The Port Hope saga
Uranium has a half life of a couple of hundred thousand years, about the same length of time that the citizens of Port Hope will debate the radiation issue. Unfortunately in Port Hope you are either fer or agin the subject of Crane/Eldorado/Cameco being good for the Town or being the cause of mutants. Now the poop has really hit the fan. A local committee of people convinced, in the face of the lack of evidence to the contrary, that the effects of low level radiation cause health defects in certain members of the population. They, the committee, have been trying to get a health study funded. The study would investigate the effects of radiation upon citizens. Unable to convince governments to fund any studies they raised enough money to test nine people. The results of this $11,000 study found that some of the nine carried more than normal amounts of uranium.
Unfortunately the committee made the mistake of releasing the results in Toronto instead of locally. Naturally all major media outlets were on this study with inflamed headlines and camera time much to the consternation of the majority of Port Hope who are convinced that the committee is composed of cranks and malcontents. Hades hath no fury like the scorn of a enraged population.
Community reaction has been to demonise the committee and the few connected with the report and a public petition has been started to "regain the good name of the community". But this bypasses the main issue here - Port Hope needs a community health scan, something that all levels of government refuse to perform.
The bottom line here is we should not condemn those who are convinced that Port Hopers are irradiated but governments should perform a health inspection to prove that they aren't
Unfortunately the committee made the mistake of releasing the results in Toronto instead of locally. Naturally all major media outlets were on this study with inflamed headlines and camera time much to the consternation of the majority of Port Hope who are convinced that the committee is composed of cranks and malcontents. Hades hath no fury like the scorn of a enraged population.
Community reaction has been to demonise the committee and the few connected with the report and a public petition has been started to "regain the good name of the community". But this bypasses the main issue here - Port Hope needs a community health scan, something that all levels of government refuse to perform.
The bottom line here is we should not condemn those who are convinced that Port Hopers are irradiated but governments should perform a health inspection to prove that they aren't
7 comments:
Well said
You are absolutely right Ben, the community needs a fair and responsible survey done, so everyone knows what's real and what's speculation. The citizens deserve to know, once and for all.
It is shameful to watch the town leaders and nay sayers twist themselves into pretzels trying to discredit those who want to know the truth.
It seems these days that people pay a high price for not going along with the majority opinion. The current attitude demands instant condemnation of anyone who dares to think for themselves and questions the status quo.
It's sad, and I commend those who commissioned this study for their guts, knowing full well they would be pilloried for daring to speak.
Big Brother has taken over!
It is understandable why the committee released its results in Toronto. For years the majority of the Port Hope Council has supported the status quo which it defends by extolling the virtues of Cameco, accurately praising them for providing jobs and also providing generous support to local charities and organizations.
Unfortunately resolutions of support do not have much effect on the deleterious consequences of radiation. All efforts to actually test the health of the population have been rebuffed by both local and federal governments. It is as if these bodies are so convinced of their innocence and correctness that the they do not feel the need to perform any studies to prove their assertions that there are no radiation consequences.
Those on the other side have seen that radiation in other parts of the world can have adverse consequences, and view the refusal of the governments to make tests as an indication that they are worried the tests would not give a complete passing grade to the plant.
If governments were to do some in-depth health testing there is a distinct possibility that it would find that there are no more radiation effects in Port Hope than caused by normal background radiation. Then each side would be able to claim victory and the whole issue would go away. The costs of such tests by government would be small in comparison to the budget that has already been established for low level clean up.
Perhaps there is a fear that if adverse health effects were found there would be little that could be done to mediate them. There is strange reluctance to consider steps such as moving the plant out of town, even if out-of-town only means moving the plant as far as the little used generating site to the west, where it would still continue to employ residents of Port Hope and could still support local charities. The idea of moving the plant should not really be scary since at the moment Port Hope is the only town in the universe to have a nuclear processing plant downtown. Apparently even quarries are now supposed to have buffer zones round them.
There are some people who are convinced that Port Hopers are irradiated and therefore, are unhealthy. Anonymous wants a “fair and responsible survey done so everyone knows what’s real and what’s speculation.” Another view wants “some in-depth health testing.” And Ben Burd wants governments to “perform a health inspection to prove that they aren’t” unhealthily irradiated.
Dr Jack Cornett, Director of the Radiation Protection Bureau, scientific cluster leader for the CRTI Radiological Nuclear Research Cluster, adjunct professor at Trent and Carleton U. and has responsibility for the Federal Nuclear Emergency Plan, asserts that the measurements of the nine people tested “fell within the range typical” throughout the universe. He added that they are “extremely low levels and well below any regulatory limits”. Health Canada has conducted eight studies over the past 20 years, in addition to regular monitoring and quarterly water testing.
What kind of health testing is being requested? How many Port Hopers have to pee in a cup? Over how many years will there have to be a piss parade to the radiation accumulator? Which level of government has to pay for this continuity?
One of the more fearful manifestations of radiation since the 50’s has been Godzilla movies. Perhaps it would be helpful for governments to perform a health inspection to prove that quarter-pounder beetles don’t exist in the town’s composters.
Here Here Wally... What I cannot understand instead of destroying the town's economic future with their scare national scare tactics, if they think Port Hope is such a toxic waste dump then by all means, I don't know try something really radical, and move to another community.
Clearly the majority of the FARE leadership have the personal resources to move, I mean Molson Brewing heir Ian Angus is their Treasurer I believe for example.
Clearly the vast majority of the townsfolk are happy to live in Port Hope no matter what FARE says.
Cameco is going nowhere unless the Company wants to move solely by it's own accord, what would be left of Port Hope is Cameco and Zircatec were to pull upstakes and leave? that would have trhe same effect as GM moving out of Oshawa.
This reminds me so much of the
supposed intelligensia Cobourg Waterfront Condo owners always thinking they should be able to run the town better because they know more, again if you don't like the situation, by all means move away and let the rest of us who may work at these companies live in peace and feed our families.
Small towns, small minds.
Wake up people! Dare to discover the truth, as only a thorough health study can provide.
That's not fear mongering, it is a rational response that can bring truth to the debate.
Better the truth than burying our collective heads in the contaminated sands of Port Hope.
What constitutes a "thorough health study"?
A "rational response" to what?
Btw, small minds exist in rural areas as well as urban cores. Which one spawned yours?
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