Tar Ponds Weblog

Odour especially serious for some residents

Cape Breton Post– Letter by Debbie Ouellette – May 25, 2010

I really hope that after reading Marlene Kane’s article of May 22 (Weekend Feedback: Tar Ponds Odour Problem Can’t Be Blown Off), the public will have a better understanding of what is really going on at the tar ponds.

What upsets me most is that the Department of Environment and Sydney Tar Ponds Agency admit there are odours coming off the tar ponds but they are downplaying these as if they are not a problem. Are they kidding me?

The odours coming off the site are stronger than they’ve ever been in the past and it’s not just sewage we’re smelling. Some residents living around this site are very sensitive to toxic chemicals coming from the stabilization and solidification work of the tar ponds and the odours are really taking a toll on them.

Some people had to leave their homes in the past week because the odours were unbearable.

These emissions were noticed blocks away from the site, long after work on the tar ponds had finished for the day. The site is making them sick.

After weeks of residents complaining about odours and dust, what did the department or STPA or the contractors do to fix the problems? They did nothing that made a difference because the odours and dust emissions are getting worse every day instead of better.

Workers inside the fence aren’t protected and neither are we. Air monitors are useless and protect no one. We are not allowed to see the air monitoring results taken inside the fence because these are the property of the contractors. But it’s the taxpayers who are paying $52 million for a coverup, not a cleanup.

Why can’t we see these results? What do those people have to hide?

Debbie Ouellette

Sydney