Keep industry out
Calgary Herald September 7, 2010
The provincial government's proposal to have members of the oilsands industry sit on a committee tasked with overseeing a study into the unusual rates of cancer at Fort Chipewyan is an absolute nonstarter.
Neither the residents of Fort Chip, downstream on the Athabasca River from oilsands operations, nor Albertans in general, can have confidence in the conclusions of any study in which members of the industry suspected of being linked to those cancers, have oversight or control.
In 2009, the Alberta Cancer Board issued a report indicating that Fort Chip's rates of cancer are 30 per cent higher than they should be for that population. Now, in the wake of a new study by University of Alberta researchers David Schindler and Erin Kelly, showing increased levels of hazardous pollutants, such as mercury, in the river, the province has a golden opportunity to follow up with a cancer study and to get it right. However, the study must be carried out at arm's length from any industry interests.
No one seems sure whose idea it was to give industry a place at the table, but Health Minister Gene Zwozdesky should scotch this proposal immediately. It is a clear conflict of interest.
The people of Fort Chipewyan have suffered, waited and wondered long enough. They deserve to have an independent scientific study done, untainted by the faintest hint of industry participation.
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