at least 6 cases of cholangiocarcinoma in the community since 2004

November 1, 2022 2:17 PM

A photo essay. A photographer spent years documenting the cultural, ecological and potential human health impacts in communities downstream of Alberta’s oilsands. Photo warnings: terminal illness, dying, funerals and animal death (hunting and aftermath).

A United Nations special rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances wrote “Indigenous Peoples appear to be disproportionately located in close proximity to actual and potential sources of toxic exposure.”
posted by spamandkimchi (10 comments total)

Important but terrible, and well-told both with words and images. Warren's desire to have his final breaths documented was a brave and powerful choice in service of his community.
posted by biogeo at 3:09 PM on November 1, 2022

Now do Sarnia, Ontario. In the run up to WWII, a huge petro-chemical district was built adjacent to, and on the upwind side of the Aamjiwnaang reserve.
posted by brachiopod at 3:39 PM on November 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

There's also Grassy Narrows Mercury poisoning (previously).
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:26 PM on November 1, 2022 [2 favorites]

This brings it back for me a bit. I used to cite John O'Connor and his flagging of excess cases of cholangiocarcinoma in the community near Fort Chipewayan in the introductory lecture to my Human Physiology course for Pharmacy Technician students. The lecture was called Alert in the Pharmacy and hoped to inspire PharmTechs to be epidemiologists-at-the-counter by noting connexions. Other cases included

• Edward Jenner and Benjamin Jesty w.r.t. smallpox / milkmaids
• Widikund Lenz and Wm McBride for thalidomide
• Normal Gregg for congenital rubella syndrome
• Marshall and Warren for Helicobacter and ulcers

O'Connor's story was on message because he originally came from Limerick . . . and his father had died of cholangiocarcinoma; so John O'C was primed to notice more cases; but holy heck not two [now six] in a village of 1500 people when the world rate was 1:100,000! Delighted to find, on foot of this post, that O'Connor has been awarded the first-ever Peter Bryce Prize for Whistleblowing (1921).
posted by BobTheScientist at 4:36 PM on November 1, 2022 [8 favorites]

For people who want to read more about Canada's oil sands, I recommend Kate Beaton's excellent graphic novel Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

"Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark A Vagrant fame, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons, specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where the lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk songs. After university, Beaton heads out west to take advantage of Alberta’s oil rush, part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, what the journey will actually cost Beaton will be far more than she anticipates.

Arriving in Fort McMurray, Beaton finds work in the lucrative camps owned and operated by the world’s largest oil companies. Being one of the few women among thousands of men, the culture shock is palpable. It does not hit home until she moves to a spartan, isolated worksite for higher pay. She encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet never discussed. Her wounds may never heal.

Beaton’s natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, Northern Lights, and Rocky Mountains. Her first full-length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people."
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 12:10 AM on November 2, 2022 [3 favorites]

Plus one for Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands — it is a haunting and devastating tale beautifully and powerfully told. As a long time fan, my opinion of her was high going in, but this is her best work to date.
posted by bouvin at 2:33 AM on November 2, 2022

Steven Donziger is finally out of prison, but no pardon from Biden of course. (previously)
posted by jeffburdges at 3:36 AM on November 2, 2022

Ducks in 5 parts from previously.
posted by adamvasco at 3:58 AM on November 2, 2022 [2 favorites]

I haven't RTFA yet, so I apologize for jumping in with a hot take if it's unwarranted, but why do I suspect the report should read "Actual and potential sources of toxic exposure appear to be disproportionately located in close proximity to Indigenous Peoples” ? I don't think the toxins or their producers' choice of oilsands siting were there first.
posted by Mchelly at 8:01 AM on November 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

Indigenous resistance over the last decade has staved the equivalent of 25% of the U.S. and Canada’s annual emissions

Importantly, their clickbait title compares a 10+ year period with one year of emissions within just some categories, so meat, embedded emissions, etc are not being counted here.
posted by jeffburdges at 1:38 PM on November 5, 2022