Independent study indicates cancer concern in Fort Chipewyan

Cancer concerns for two First Nations living downstream on the Athabasca River have always been personal for Mikisew Cree Nation Chief Steve Courtoreille, but now they have reached an even higher level. Courtoreille has been diagnosed with cancer.
“But I am a fighter. I just don’t give up.  And so are my people,” he said. “I don’t have a problem in standing up to industry, in standing up to government, other First Nations to fight for our well-being, our lives.”

Courtoreille’s comments accompanied the release of phase two of the joint report Environmental and Human Health Implications of Athabasca Oil Sands, which was undertaken by his First Nation and the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation. The report, which went beyond medical records, indicates higher than average rates of cancer on the two First Nations.

According to the report, 20 out of 94 people interviewed included cancer among their ailments. Those figures are startlingly different from information released by the province in March.

Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. James Talbot indicated that data collected between1992-2011 showed that cancer rates in the area were on par with the rest of Alberta and there was no concern for environment-related cancers.

Lead researcher, environmental scientist Dr. Stephane McLachlan, with the University of Manitoba, said his findings and process were scientifically-sound and more accurate because of the holistic approach, which incorporated both traditional knowledge and environmental health sciences.

“There’s something unique that’s happening in Fort Chipewyan especially when you do the interviews and you do the analysis that we did around cancer rates,” said McLachlan.

The study compared those who suffered from cancer with those who did not in order to determine the differences in living habits.  Consumption of traditional foods, in particular fish, and employment in the oil sands stood out as mitigating factors. Tests of wildlife for heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon found high levels of concentration. Some of the findings also indicated high levels of arsenic, mercury, and selenium and elevated cadmium levels. This past May, the province advised Fort Chipewyan residents to limit their consumption of gull and tern eggs from Mamawi Lake and Lake Athabasca due to rising mercury levels identified by a study last October. The report noted, “Yet human exposure to these contaminants were generally not of health concern (because of) the relatively low amounts of traditional foods that are now consumed ….”

However, said McLachlan, the switch to less healthy and less expensive store-bought food also makes people sick. Change in eating habits coupled with the lack of adequate local health services has created a “perfect storm,” he said.

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam said the findings are “credible” and called out both the provincial and federal governments for their refusal to take action.

“I feel because we are a First Nation community, in more ways than one, that we are being discriminated against through economic and environmental justice,” he said. “We’ve been at this for well over 20 years and we’re still at the table and not going nowhere.”

Adam said regulatory reform would provide more information about what is going into the Athabasca River and its tributaries and not just from the oil and gas sector but also from municipalities.  He called for reduction in water and air emissions.
“We have to do a lot of things,” he said. “We have to hold government accountable for this.”

Part of holding government accountable was the First Nations’ decision to go outside of the University of Alberta to undertake the study. Adam said the U of A and Alberta government have close ties and “we wanted to get a fair analysis done.”

Adam added that the First Nations were not calling for the end of tar sands development but a “slow-down of further development in regards to what is going on in our region and start cleaning up the mess.”

Following the release of the report, the Keepers of the Athabasca issued a news release condemning the provincial government for its lack of action. In a CHED news report, a spokesperson from Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development indicated no urgency to respond to the First Nations’ report noting that the issue of cancers in the region had already been addressed earlier in the year by the province.

The Keepers of the Athabasca are calling for an independent public inquiry into the actions of the Alberta government “with regard to their inaction on health concerns in Northern Alberta.”

Photo caption: (From left) Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Chief Allan Adam, Mikisew Cree Nation Chief Steve Courtoreille and University of Manitoba professor Stephane McLachlan discuss the findings of a recently released report they undertook examining cancer in the region.