BELLUZ sey is, | im Box 715 td The Terrace Bay-Schreiber Terrace Bay Ontario Ps é- ; POT 2Wo JURIS ZDANOVSKIS Office - 825-9393 BROKER Home - 824-2933 oO . = MON CHERIE HAIR, SALON, _ s Ladies Men = (807) 824-3080 3 " = Mountainview Plaza AS a ne Hwy. 17, Schreiber Ry 2 Voll 2 a, 8 News Open Daily 10.a.m, lies TU 388% {12,1990 Stand 40 seo e388 SUPERIOR-SHORELINE * New Homes (10 years or less) discount INSURANCE LTD. Special Rates: Discounts on lg i Renovated Older Homes * Senior Citizen * Claims Free > mineral transfer site, on the east end of Schreiber, has some citizens worrying about the effect the black mineral concentrate that blows through town will have on their health. By Angie Saunders The News The mineral transfer facility, in the east end of Schreiber on Highway 17, has been causing ongoing concerns to residents who question. the safety of the location. The facility is operated by C.P. Rail who have a contract to trans- port zinc and copper concentrates from the Minnova Mine site at Winston Lake to a refinery in Montreal. The site was built in 1987, and has been causing concern even before its completion. The concentrates, a fine black powder, are hauled from the mine _ site to the transfer facility where they are dumped on a concrete pad. A front end loader scoops up the concentrate and dumps it into gondola cars which are cov- ered with fiberglass covers before shipping. Rose and Mike Renaud, who have organized the Concerned Citizens Committee of Schreiber, feel that the residents of Schreiber are being used as "guinea pigs" because no other town in Ontario has a transfer facility right in their town. The mineral transfer site is within 2 kilometers of every resi- dence in Schreiber including gar- dens, schools and homes. The mineral concentrate, which is a fine powder, contains toxic elements such as lead, cad- mium, cobalt and strontium according to an Ontario Ministry of the Environment analysis. The wind blows the powder through- out the town. The Renauds have been spend- ing much of their own time and money in the past three years try- ing to make people aware of the concentrate which they believe is harmful to people's health. In 1988, sphagnum moss bags were hung in various sites around Schreiber to determine amounts of dangerous elements that were blowing through town in the wind. The survey showed that concentrations of copper and zinc significantly exceeded Ministry of Environment guidelines in exposed moss off company prop- erty. Off-property levels of cad- mium were slightly above the guideline. Levels of all elements, except mercury, were higher in 1988 than in 1987. The largest differ- ence between years occurred in for copper and zinc, where con- centrations were hundreds of times higher in 1988 than in 1987. Apart from health concerns, the moss study clearly showed that there was a potential contam- ination of off-property vegetation, soil and groundwater. Dr. Richard Scott, who was employed in Schreiber for 5 weeks in April and May, said, "It's difficult to prove ill effects. Asthma is very common around here. I don't have statistical evi- dence but I think it is (affecting people's health)." Dr. Scott went on to say that Photo by Angie Saunders cadmium, present in the concen- trate, causes lung disease, lung damage and possibly cancer. He also mentioned that several patients were concerned their children had breathing problems. "It's difficult to say how much damage this facility is doing to people's health. It's hard to prove til people are dying. You can do testing, but by the time you know there's a problem there's usually a. lot of damage done. You have to act in a preventative way. We know that cadmium is there in excess." Debbie Semple, who lives on 101 Manitoba Street in Schreiber, has asthma but believes the min- eral concentrate is making it worse. "They started dumping this stuff and I'm getting worse and worse. Kendall's (her daughter)_ developing asthma. It started this winter," Debbie said. "The side of my house is cov- ered in dust that won't come out," continued on page 2 Canada Day Celebrations By Angie Saunders The News Some great entertainment will come the way of Terrace Bay and Schreiber residents on the Canada Day weekend. Mike King, Co-Chairman of the Canada Day activities in Terrace Bay gave a long list of activities. - The circus is coming to. town. Terrace Bay will host "The Circus of the Stars" on Saturday, June 30. The circus will include: ele- phant and camel rides, leopards, jaguars, llamas, ponies, and dogs. It will also feature Fire Chips the horse with magical talents, Arias the fastest juggler in the world, and Anna Louisa, a 2000 pound baby elephant who plays harmon- ica. A circus would not be com- plete without a clown. Doodle will make you laugh and laugh and laugh. A Much Music Video Dance will be held on Saturday night from 8:00 - 1:00 after the circus. Videos will be shown on a 12 x 9 foot screen as well as a light show that will light up Terrace Bay arena. Proceeds will go to the Terrace Bay Boy Scouts for their Whitesand Project. A few other activities in Terrace Bay on the Canada Day weekend are: a teen dance, senior's dance, children's races, golf tournament,beer gardens in the arena, and the Ist Annual Terrace Bay Fish Derby (June 25- July 1). You can't have Canada Day without fireworks. There will be a fireworks display at the Terrace Bay beach on Sunday, July 30th along with a bonfire. Schreiber also has activities that the whole family can enjoy. The Schreiber Rec Director,Ron Larivee, mentioned that along with the Rec Centre, other groups and organizations are sponsoring activities. The 5 km Canada Day Run will be held on Saturday, June 30th. The run starts at 10:00 with the course going through the town. There will be a parade of bikes, bike rodeo and children's games on Saturday, June 30th for the young ones. The races etc., should be done on time for the kids to attend the circus in continued on page 2 >, eee BD Os, RIRTID AINICTI T TERRACE BAY INSURANC A COMPLETE INSURANCE SERVICE COMPETITIVE RATES FOR QUALITY COVERAGE SIMCOE PLAZA TERRACE BAY 825 - 3246 E LTD. * Home * Business * Auto * Cottages . * Recreational Vehicles * Etc. 2s TERRY O'NETIT