Heath concerns on the agenda as trench construction starts

Diesel fumes permeating the air around Central Avenue are already causing grief among Central Avenue residents.
KGS started digging the diesel fuel recovery trenches on CN property Monday, releasing the fumes into the air.
“It stunk like hell here today,” charged Jim Sawka yesterday afternoon.
Sawka said he first really noticed the stench late Monday night while watching TV.
Sawka’s neighbour George Drazenovich echoed his words.
“We’re not happy so far. I’m afraid there is going to be a lot of smell and we’re smelling it already,” said Drazenovich, a long-time resident of 809 Central Ave. “My wife had a heck of a time this morning with that smell.”
However, he was quick to note that, “it’s not near the intolerable stage yet.”
Paul Lawson, of 813 Central Avenue, was away from his house during the day on Tuesday and said he hadn’t smelled any fumes since he arrived home. He added that the wind was blowing the right way (west), helping the situation.
The increase in diesel fumes also has the residents more concerned about their health.
Jim Sawka has a heart condition, and two young grandchildren living in his house. He said he was concerned about the lack of data regarding the long-term affects of diesel fuel.
Drazenovich said he and his wife, June, were closely monitoring their breathing during the trench construction. He stood by last week’s demand to be relocated during the construction of the trenches.
Lawson didn’t have enough information.
“We’re a little uncertain about [health concerns] because no one is willing to give us an answer one way or the other,” Lawson said.
Dr. Peter Sarsfield, head of the North Western Health Unit in Kenora, said there was little recorded data regarding the long-term affects of diesel fumes, but he was quick to say that didn’t necessarily mean a situation (like the one on Central Avenue) is innocuous. He summed up the situation using a skunk analogy.
“If you have a skunk in your press room you have almost as close to no illness risk as you can get. Skunk scent has no proven illness risk. However, it’s intolerable and nobody would argue that you would not be able to stay in the room,” Dr. Sarsfield argued.
“And what those families have when they have fumes in their home is a skunk in the room,” he stressed.
In June, the health unit requested a toxicology report from Dr. Lesbia Smith, a provincial toxicologist in Toronto. The report was expected to be an extensive review of soil samples taken from property on Central Avenue. What they received was a letter stating Dr. Smith’s general opinion on the situation.
Dr. Sarsfield, former head of Manitoba’s Department of Health, said that the public health officials often give conservative estimates when it comes to things where there is little or no definitive evidence to suggest a link between contamination and illness.
“It’s been my experience that many environmental health specialists, not all but many, are extremely conservative in their assessments of potential health risk to environmental contaminants,” he started.
“People in environmental health frequently wait to see fallen bodies before making a judgment and that’s frequently too late if you are the public. You don’t want wait to be the one in a chalk outline in the parking lot before somebody does something about [the situation],” Dr. Sarsfield charged.
He also stressed that, “there is very poor evidence regarding exposure to diesel fuel with one exception and that would be benzene. Benzene is a known carcinogen, a cancer causer.”
“Nobody is saying that they are ingesting benzene. Benzene you can’t breath in, you have to put it in your mouth,” he continued.
Dr. Sarsfield attended the meeting with CN here on July 21. He said CN publicly acknowledged the ‘Skunk in the room’ argument and said that he has dealt with less accommodating companies.
“I’ve been involved in my [former job] with companies that said ‘Up yours! If it’s not giving you cancer, to heck with you,’ but CN was not saying that,” Dr Sarsfield claimed.
But if Dr. Sarsfield were in the same circumstance as the residents of Central Avenue he said he would not put up with it.
“I would not continue to live in a home with fumes from diesel. If the solution was not being solved soon and, if I had the wherewithal, I would move either temporarily or permanently.”