Duane Hicks
Engineering studies conducted earlier this year found high levels of dioxins and furans at the former J.A. Mathieu sawmill site on Couchiching First Nation.
The community now is waiting for further test results, as well as Indian and Northern Affairs and Health Canada to review the existing test results and take action.
According to a report from DST Consulting Engineers dated March 13, obtained by the Times yesterday, the problem first came to light when Couchiching chief and council were looking at clearing the property to develop the land back in 2007.
Following the initial stages of field work, elders identified a previously-unknown location of a former pentachlorolphenol (PCP) dipping pond used to treat and preserve lumber.
The report said DST, Couchiching, and INAC then prepared a work plan to asses the site, which was located at the corner of Harry’s Road on Highway 11.
DST also assessed additional locations of the sawmill site that were suspected to contain dioxins and furans.
DST completed a soil and groundwater sampling at the former J.A. Mathieu sawmill site this February, and found high levels of dioxins and furans at the former dipping pond area on Harry’s Road and at the former sawmill.
Based on the results of that assessment, two households—Marc McPherson and Shawn Jourdain—were asked in mid-March to move as a precaution.
McPherson moved back to the community while Jourdain and his family, who temporarily stayed with his in-laws, now are renting a home in Fort Frances.
Jourdain continues to be upset over what he feels is a lack of response from INAC regarding the whole contamination situation.
“INAC is INAC. They don’t really care,” he charged. “They were supposed to restore the soil back to its original state after leasing it out to Mathieu, and now it’s taking them three months to do testing that should have been done a week after this happened.
“They don’t care. They just don’t care,” he added. “They haven’t done anything to help. . . .
“We were lucky and fortunate we had relatives to help us out,” Jourdain noted. “We couldn’t take any furnishings out of the home, either.
“They [INAC] were suppose to have cleaned and washed those down, and rid them of contamination so we can take them. And that still hasn’t been done.
“That was supposed to have been done in March.
“They haven’t given us any indication of anything,” he added. “When they came here, they flew in on a corporate jet to come to visit us, for a meeting to tell us nothing. When we were at the meeting with them, they wouldn’t answer our questions, they would just ignore us. It was awful.
“They are an awful organization, as far as I am concerned,” Jourdain fumed.
According to the report, a follow-up meeting was held April 6 to discuss the soil and groundwater impacts and what to do next.
At the meeting, Couchiching, INAC, and Health Canada requested that DST collect and analyze dust samples in 11 buildings within the community for dioxins and furans.
Eight of these were residences located in the vicinity of the site, two were commercial/industrial buildings located within the area of the old sawmill and airway, and one was a residence located about 1.3 km west of the site (for control purposes).
The results of the dust samples (both wipe and vacuum samples) were released in an interim report dated May 14.
That report concluded the concentrations of dioxins and furans in the vacuum samples in the buildings exceeded the modified U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Canadian Councils of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) generic soil criteria, and present an “unacceptable human health risk.”
However, none of the wipe samples exceeded the U.S. EPA criteria.
It also noted the dioxins and furans in the dust samples “cannot be definitely identified without further sampling and analysis,” but it appears they are related to a PCP formulation used at the former sawmill.
However, the “fingerprint” from the dust samples (the type of pentachlorolphenol) differs from those set out in the soil samples, and further testing is being done on- and off-reserve to determine if the contamination could be airborne.
Couchiching resident Dean Bruyere, whose home was tested but found to have very low levels of contaminants and he feels safe to live in it, said he remains concerned about the scope and source of the contamination.
“I just want to know where it’s coming from,” he remarked.
“The soil is contaminated, the groundwater is contaminated. All of that runs into the lake,” noted Jourdain. “Sooner or later, somebody is going to get wind of it who’s important and can do something, I hope.”
The report from DST recommended the band consult with Health Canada, and that further site characterization (soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, fish, and dust sampling) take place to further assess risks.
DST also recommended that to eliminate any possibility of the formation of lower chlorinated dioxins and furans, which are more toxic than the higher chlorinated species, the band inform residents not to burn wood or grass that may be affected by the contaminants.
The band also was told to cover the exposed contaminated soils with clean fill until a more permanent solution is implemented.
