ARE ELMIRA RESIDENTS & CHEMTURA WORKERS SECOND CLASS CITIZENS?

Today's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story on page A3 "Workers exposed to Agent Orange". Provincial agencies used 2,4,5-T from 1947 until 1979 to remove and reduce weeds along hydro corridors, roads and rail lines. The Minister of Natural Resources is encouraging hydro, road and forestry workers who may have been exposed to file claims with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Of course by waiting so long both government and industry have managed to reduce the number of living victims dramatically. A 219 page report commissioned by the province two years ago was released yesterday.

So what about the workers at Uniroyal who handled and were exposed to the Dioxins in 2,4,5-T? What about Elmira residents who have been denied a health study for the last two decades? What about the grossly inadequate scraping and capping operation of Dioxins scheduled for the south-east corner of Chemtura this summer? These questions are long overdue for intelligent answers. Unfortunately that seems to be beyond the abilities of our Ministry of the Environment and hangers on in this area.