Page AB - Terrace Standard, Wednesday, Novamber 7, 1990

Toxic chemicals found.
_at hig

TERRACE — Space-suited
hazardous waste handlers
breathing bottled air will be at
an old gravel. pit in Thornhill
this week to begin unearthing 20
barrels
buried there for more than, is
years, :

The barrels contain the her-
bicides |. 2 4-D - ‘and | 2,4,5-T,
which were once. used by the
highways ministry t@ contral
weeds in ditches,
samples taken from the barrels
have also ‘confirmed the
presence of dioxins:. -~.

The drums are buried about
two feet underground in an old
25-acre gravel yard in Thornhill]

at the top of the hill-on Old.
in the”

Lakelse Lake - Road,
highways ministry storage yard

there adjacent to Skeena Con- -

crete,

- District highways manager
John Newhouse said the drums
are broken and an unknown
amount of the chemicals has
leaked out, contaminating the
surrounding soil. He said an in-
tensive environmental cleanup
of the site, at a cost of nearly
3100,000, is now being done by
the Vancouver-based firm
Keystone Environmental
Resources Ltd,

Newhouse said the barrels of
herbicide were apparently
buried there and forgotten in
1973 and weren't discovered

again until someone told the en- ©

vironment ministry about it in
May,

“There had. been rumours
about this (burying of the
chemicals) several times since
1975, but it had never been
verified,'” Newhouse said.

When he found out about it
this spring, he said highways
staff began searching records
and interviewing ex-employees
to verify the dump exists, They
did that over the summer, he
said, excavated the site and took
test samples. ,

Although the highways
ministry can’t move the
chemicals: ‘ and. - contaminated

soil! fromthe. site ‘until: the: pre-:--

vince: ‘builds‘a hazardous waste

incinerator, the company will.

begin cleaning up the site and
putting material into secure
storage there,

“At this point in time we
can’t dispose of it,’’ Newhouse
said. ‘‘There’s no place we can
dispose of it or have it
destroyed. We just have to store.
it.’

He said the workers will be
pumping the remaining liquid

out of the crushed drums and.

into lined sealed steel drums.
The old drums and all the con-
taminated soil will be sealed off,
and put into a large steel con-
tainment bin, along with the
sealed drums,

The nearest homes to the her-
bicide dump are about 300
metres away, along Hawthorne
Street and Cypress. Street. Jill
Crawford, a Hawthorne Street
resident said trails crisscross the
bush area’ behind the houses,
and children frequently play in
the highways yard there.

“They call it the pit,’’ she
said. ‘'They say ‘Let's go down

Quality
TERRACE -— The Skeena
Health Unit is buying a testing
machine to help combat out-
breaks of ‘‘beaver fever”' in the
region. .

Dr. “David . Bowering, the
region’s medical health offi icer,
said the $1,000 machine is

worth the expenditure because
giardiasis, known as “beaver

fever” is a problem throughout

the northwest.

“ats a major concern
everywhere,” he said, noting
Terrace in particular suffered
“a mini-outbreak” in August
and September,

Thirteen people. here picked
up the organism through drink-
ing water. and got sick, —

Giardiasis typically . causes
nausea, diarrhea, excessive gas,
and sometimes. a fever, It can
persist ‘for. weeks and even mon-
ths,

Bowering. said” ‘ Terrace’ §

water supply’ was tested during:

the increase in cases — which
usually happens in ihe summer

months :— but ‘no ‘conclusive _

evidence’ indi¢ated the piardia

cysts were getting i into the sity’ san

water. -

of ‘toxic herbicides;

will use full protective suits, in-
cluding air supplies, Newhouse
‘said, and equipment working on
“the site will be hosed off; with . .

-Tests on

~ ing the herbicides were fairly

_ used, noting’ workers in those
“days would handle the chemical
‘with bare hands, He said the

‘ministry decision to stop using’

_the chemicals because of: the
‘health ‘risks’ that’ were ‘then
‘becoming apparent:

‘prime

hway

to the pit and play."”"”
- Newhouse said a fence will be
erected and signs will be put up
waming people it is now a
restricted area.

Technicians will test water .
and sediments in the pond area
at the base of the hill for con-
tamination through water run-
off from the site, he added.

Workers doing the cleanup

the runoff collected: and stored a
in the steel: barrels, © :
“He said procedures for handl-

loose at the time they were being

burying of the drums in 1973
probably coincided with a

‘The chemical 2,4,5-T was the
ingredient in Agent

s pit in Th omni

TERRACE: _— Family and a
friends of Canadian’ armed fb
forces members aboard three. |.

"ships in the Persian Gulf cai’ Je
now use the phone, to keepi in LE:
‘touch, i. oe

One service provided: “by. arn

the Canadian Broadcasting ® f°" °° ”

Corporation's -internatlonal J -

arm enables people'to -call <[e.

and record a message :for’ f: .-
people aboard HMCS:* fe. -

Athabaska, HMCS* Terra [>

Nova or HMCS, Protecteur..} |

It's then, broadcast ‘to: _ the ee

three ships, BROT
The second service. is. J’

operated by the navy: Callers fF .

can hear of latest ['

developments on board the 4°
three ships and personal.
messages from ships’ com-  §-
panies for their families and |
friends.

The phone numbers for =}...

Radio Canada International.)

are, for English, -].

47 .f 514-597-7650 and, for J
French, 514-597-7651,

. The phone numbers for”
the navy lines ‘are toll-free. :

See oS

i

Orange — a defoliant. used by
the U.S, Army in. Vietnam. ‘Its
use was abandoned when traces
of dioxin in it were found to
cause severe skin eruptions in
humans, and cancer and birth
defects in lab animals.

feet underground.

It’s Drug Awareness Week,

November 4-10. Take part.
and be part of the solution’.
by supporting drug.
awareness activities in
your community by putting
up posters at School, —
volunteering your time,...oF

attending special. drug
awareness events. .

FLT

Facts on Alchohol And Drug Use

By the REGISTERED NURSES ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH COLUMBI

Over half of all adult Canadians have been in-
sulted or disturbed by someone who has been
drinking. More than a third have been in serious
arguments as a result of alcohol, or been a
passenger with a drunk criyer at some time in
their lives. About one fifth have experienced
family problems or been assaulted as a result of
someones alse’s alcohol use.

This news comes froma recent federal govern-.
ment survey on alcohol and drug USE tn ;
Canada. - ”
Over 11,500 Canadians were eurveyed. by
telephone and more that three-quarters: agreed
to participate. Most respondents thought it.ac--
ceptable for others ta have one or two social -
drinks, but it was not permissible to show the *.
effects. Similarly, they thought. co-workers’ ‘More. However, 1.4 percent of the poputation
should not drink at lunch and nearly half thought’ “Currently uses cocaine, which is an increase.
the same about after-work drinking.or drinking: » Younger adults use illicit drugs, the most, and
at sports and recreational events. Sixteen per!’ Men rather than women...

cent had lost friends due to alcohal use.’ E! iI t. ;
f° satous implications ‘for. ‘everyone. involved. if

percent had property vandalized and: three per:
cent had financial difficulties as-a"reault “of “you find yourself ‘needing a better understan-

another person's drinking.
Seventy-eight percent of adult! “Can diaris:
reported alcohol use within the tast12. moniths, s
down from 82 percent of the Popilt nt 19. , Clinic.

beverages also indicates a Steady reduction In
consumption.

a downward trend, but sleeping pill consump-
tion shows little cHange. Older men and women
report the highest use, and elderly. women

each year.

* Cannabis (marijuana or. hashish) ~ . the most
- commonly used illicit drug in Ganada - shows a
recent decline in-use. Overall, 6.5 percent of

: the population currently uses ‘cannibis and one-

Alcohol is the drug choice amon secon, vee.
school students, : "

One in five 8.C, secondary scho
use alcohol at least once.a weak:
33% said they have consumed: mar
drinks at once in the last month. ie

: 20% amaked ore i
15.1% have used j
n the. at in. the last year.

¥

Survey results for prescription rugs, however, :
were more complex. Use of tranquilizers shows:

réceive almost half of the total prescriptions,

quarter of thase people use it once a week or -

Veo

| OF the ‘éffect it is having on theme

years ago. Since 1980, the sale of alcoholic |

‘Any misuse of: alcohol. and: drugs has Very 7

“ding of your own, situation,’ ‘or the situation of
those around you; nurses recommend you con: -
tact your local health nit or Alcohol and Drug :

TOXIC HERBICIDES leaking out of barrels buried in- the Highways ministry gravel yard in 1 Thomhil
will be the focus of an intensive environmental! cleanup set to begin this week, That’s highways
ministry area manager Earl Nyeaard painting out the location of the barrels, which are about two

2. Do your friends or farnily aver comment fon your drinking

For English, it’s
1-800-565-9499 ‘and for
French, it’s 1-800-565-4540, -

TAKE THE
TRY TEST

How much have you thought about your drinking? Answer
this questionnaire. Respond honestly — these questions
have been dasigned to help you take a realistic look at

’ your drinking habits:

1, Bo you ever lose time from work or school due to drink-
ing? .

3, Has. your reputation ever éufferdd! because’ “Ot your’

“drinking? .

x

_.4.Do you ever feel guilly about your drinking, or the ef
. fects of your drinking?
2 Sy
» result of your drinking?
fe 8. Are your prefarred friends heavy drinkers?
~ 7, Do. you eat lightly or skip meals to enhance the effects

Have you ever suffered any financial difficulties as a0

- Of alcohol?
8. Has your general ambition decreased dué to your drink
‘ing?. .

‘9, Is it difficult for you to predict with any consistency how

much you wil! drink and how it will affect you?

_ 10; Is it possible that drinking may be disrupting your nor-
Mal sleep patterns?

14. Has there been areduction in your efficlency, ar an in-
crease in the times you have been late or absent from
work or school since you began drinking?

12. Do you find yourself drinking alone more often?

13. Have you ever experianced a period of memory loss
or fuzzy memory as a result of your drinking?

14, Has medical treatment ‘or hospitalization ever ‘been
necessitated by your drinking?

15; Do you ever see your drinking as a way to combat
shyness, to build up self-confidence, Or fo escape from. §
worries, stress or boredom? °
16. Have you aver used ag “morning eye: opener” to
steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover? \

17, Can you drink more than you used to without feeling ..
the effects?

16, ‘Have you ever been arrested for driving under the in-
fience? -.

19. Have youe ever r falt you should: cut down on your drink:

ing?

- This » squestionneire is: intended to’ provide you with a

checkiist of warning signs.-It Is not intended as a Substitute

‘for'a thorough medical examination and discussion with

your ‘doctor! i:

__AYES answer to any ONE question should ba takenasa “

signal that the person is potentially at risk,

' “A-YES anewer.to THREE or more questions indicates pro- _
fessional: consultation and evaluation are advised, e

and: ‘substance. abuse,

(1-800-683-1441), B.C.'s toll-free, 24-hour dcohliag 7
'nformation and referral ‘ervice,

A YES answer to any TWO quastions should be taken asa 7
‘definite ‘warning sign. .

Fors ingre information on’ Drug Awareness Week activities
call the TRYLINE

and community Informa.
ton: line. ,

‘
vibes

Call the TAYL

Each mont

’

ora teenage
_TRYLINE

Ip or information about substance abuse? =.
h, about 1,000, people a do.
about Prevention,” treatment

C.'s: toll-free alcohol/drug: Information
‘cure community. Information : I