In 1900,
construction of a
steel plant in
Sydney, Nova Scotia began after 500
acres of land on an an
estuary to the harbour was
granted by the government. A community called
Whitney Pier was sprouted not far to the north of the
acreage and it supported the
factory with a
work and
lifeforce for over 80 years.
During the early 1900s,
smokestacks and
pollution were
symbols of
prosperity and growth so nearby residents learned to live with the plant's constant
belching of pollutants into the air.
Chronic illnesses and shorter lifespans were a way of life on Whitney Pier but all the residents were too
thankful to be given work and a free home by the
government to ever
complain.
Over time, the
archaic operations did more
damage to itself and the
land than good to the
Crown Corporations that have held its
ownership's
pockets.
Coal of poor
quality was often used to make the steel, compromising end product quality and profit.
Waste was another
product of an operation using
inferior raw materials.
Slag, a byproduct of steel making was
dumped into
piles, unlined
pits and eventually in the
estuary itself for the entire lifespan of the plant's operation causing a buildup of chemicals over time to create the
worst environmental disaster in
North America.
Another plant process called coking managed to
pollute a nearby creek until it flowed
orange with
arsenic,
molybdenum,
benzopyrene,
antimony,
naphthalene,
lead,
toulene,
tar,
benzene,
kerosene,
copper and PAHs. The lands above the
coke ovens spontaneously catch fire only to be unquenchable by firefighters to this day.
The amount of
chemical waste on the site today is astounding. Amounts of
PCBs found on the
tested areas are as high as 663 ppm among the 700,000 tonnes of
toxic sludge. The province denied any danger to nearby residents until all of the dogs on Whitney Pier died, people's chronic
ailments worsened,
cancers persisted and residents put up a fight. Only until the chemical
muck started seeping into people's homes did anyone get moved at the government's expense.
The plant was Sydney's main operating industry. Closing the plant meant thousands of lost jobs, less
revenue for the province, low
civic morale and a serious
unemployment situation. The plant's pollution was affecting the
fisheries in Sydney's harbour and unemployment in that
sector was becoming uncontrolable alone.
A new
Crown Corporation was birthed to assume operating responsibilities while the province figured out what to do with the mess. Time ticked on and tests upon tests were performed on the polluted muck that was once the estuary. The insanely high levels of pollutants were best thought to be
incinerated, however the design that was implemented was to
pump the mess uphill.
As we all know
The Law of Gravity generally prevents substances with a low
viscosity from being pumped
uphill, but someone believed that their plan would work. The
clean-up project has sat idle ever since.
No company wishes to send any of their
employees out into the
ponds for any sum of
money and politicians are looking at covering the mess with
parkland as a "fix" for the problem. Perhaps
condemning the area and sealing it off somehow would be a decent solution considering the circumstances, however
environmentalists are concerned about further
ground water and harbour pollution as well as the possibility of
plant life releasing benzene into the
atmosphere.
An environmental disaster 35 times worse than
Love Canal, the Sydney Tar Ponds are a little-communicated topic within the country and the rest of the world. Its a
shame that its grown beyond the control of money, politics and
humanity and that so many lives have been affected by such an
ugly industry and the lack of responsibility by the government.
Further reading and sources:
http://www.ns.ec.gc.ca/emergencies/studies_sysco.html
http://www.web.net/~sierra/stp/
"Fredrick Street Life and Death on Canada's Love Canal" Maude Barlow, Elizabeth May - ISBN 0-00-200036-9