On Friday, 140 letters were sent to residents of a northeast Edmonton neighbourhood over potential exposure to contaminants from the nearby site of a former wood processing plant, and dozens of residents attended a meeting with officials Sunday to get answers.
Alberta Health Services, Alberta Health and Alberta Environment and Parks said Friday that testing had found chemicals that can cause health issues if a person is exposed to a large amount or for long periods of time.
The piece of land in question was once the site of the old Domtar wood processing plant. The plant had operated for more than 60 years, before it was shut down in the 1980s.
Developers have since taken over the land. Alberta Health reviewed testing from the parcels of land, located between Yellowhead Trail and Hermitage Road, after Alberta Environment and Parks learned about construction of a dirt berm on the site.
“Once they started to disturb the soil, the investigation found there were some free products,” Neil Brad, regional compliance manager with Alberta Environment and Parks, said Sunday.
The highest concentration of chemicals was found three metres deep, and AHS said it is unlikely people who have not entered the property had been exposed.
“It is really challenging to make any definitive statements on what health outcomes could have been a result of the exposure,” Dr. Chris Sikora with AHS said.
Dr. Sikora advised anyone with health concerns to contact their physician. He said prolonged exposure could cause kidney and liver issues, and could increase the chance of cancer.
“Do you ever know the implications? And now here we are 20 years later,” former area resident Nicole Pulford said.
Pulford used to live across the street from the plant – she said she used to ride her bike across a portion of the property.
“It is upsetting to me to think that all these chemicals, I mean, they don’t even know, I’m concerned.”
Alberta Health said a more comprehensive health assessment is underway, and results are expected in the coming months.
In the meantime, Alberta Health advised residents to take a number of precautions:
- Avoid areas where contamination has been found
- Wash hands thoroughly after working or playing outdoors
- Wash clothes heavily soiled with mud or dirt from those areas separate from other clothing
- If planting a garden, consider using raised beds, and use clean soil – wash any fruits or vegetables from these gardens thoroughly with water
- Ventilate their home using furnace fan controls
With files from Angela Jung
