Northstar vapours more hazardous than first thought
Posted Feb 17, 2010 04:42:03 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment has lowered the safety threshold for industrial vapours coming from the old Northstar Aerospace plant in Cambridge.
The province made the decision based on studies out of California that suggest the risk of getting cancer is five times higher than initially suspected.
The province has also given Northstar and GE Canada until February 19th to develop a plan that’s more in line with the new threshold.
The contamination of the Bishop Street neighbourhood, which is home to almost 500 residences, was detected in 2005.
The companies are in the midst of a cleanup expected to cost around 20-million-dollars.
Wednesday’s Record quotes the region’s associate medical officer of health, Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang as saying “The health risks are still very low.”
She says “It has always been a low risk and it still remains a low risk.”
