According to the PHCHCC (Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee), residents and workers of Port Hope, Ontario are being put at risk of chronic, long-term uranium contamination from two refineries which are located within the community – the PHCHCC quotes a recent study carried out by the Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC).

Faye More, PHCHCC, and Tedd Weyman, UMRC, went to Ottawa and appealed to MPs (members of parliament) to ask why Health Canada has chosen to consistently disregard the available evidence and allowed the current contamination of the town to continue.

NDP Environment Critic Nathan Cullen (Skeena-Bulkley Valley), who promised to take up their cause, said “Once again, the needs of ordinary Canadians are being ignored in favour of corporate profits,” said Cullen. “We need to show leadership as the elected representatives of this country to ensure that the health of working people and of communities comes first. Health Canada should not be ignoring peer reviewed studies, nor give a false sense of security when real questions of safety exist.”

According to a study carried out by UMRC and produced by Weyman of nine Port Hope workers, as well as two controls, all the samples from Port Hope people showed that contamination continued up to 23 years after they had stopped working at the reactor.

Cullen said “What shocked me even more was the irresponsible response to this study by their local MP, Conservative Rick Norlock. Rather than raising concern about the health of his constituents, he chastised them for somehow ruining the reputation of the town. As leaders, we have the responsibilities to recognize the issues that we have in our ridings and do whatever we can to overcome them for the sake of the people we represent.”

Cullen vowed to do whatever he could to make sure a comprehensive multidisciplinary health study be carried out in the Port Hope community. He called for an investigation into Health Canada’s denials of health risk that he says exist there.

Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee