Remediation of former military bases in the Canadian Arctic

Poland, John S.; Mitchell, S.J.; Rutter, Allison

doi:10.1016/s0165-232x(00)00022-7

Cited by 47 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Although some chemical contaminants in Arctic ecosystems may have originated locally from industrial or military installation sites and human habitations (Poland et al 2001;Sistili et al 2006), most contaminants are the result of atmospheric and oceanic transport from industrialized areas in the temperate latitude regions of North America, Europe, and eastern Asia (Van Oostdam et al 2005;Macdonald et al 2005;Kirk et al 2012). Methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury, is produced through the methylation of elemental mercury in Arctic marine waters.…”

Section: Environmental Toxins and Contaminantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change in the North American Arctic: A One Health Perspective

et al. 2015

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Climate change is expected to increase the prevalence of acute and chronic diseases among human and animal populations within the Arctic and subarctic latitudes of North America. Warmer temperatures are expected to increase disease risks from food-borne pathogens, water-borne diseases, and vector-borne zoonoses in human and animal populations of Arctic landscapes. Existing high levels of mercury and persistent organic pollutant chemicals circulating within terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in Arctic latitudes are a major concern for the reproductive health of humans and other mammals, and climate warming will accelerate the mobilization and biological amplification of toxic environmental contaminants. The adverse health impacts of Arctic warming will be especially important for wildlife populations and indigenous peoples dependent upon subsistence food resources from wild plants and animals. Additional research is needed to identify and monitor changes in the prevalence of zoonotic pathogens in humans, domestic dogs, and wildlife species of critical subsistence, cultural, and economic importance to Arctic peoples. The long-term effects of climate warming in the Arctic cannot be adequately predicted or mitigated without a comprehensive understanding of the interactive and synergistic effects between environmental contaminants and pathogens in the health of wildlife and human communities in Arctic ecosystems. The complexity and magnitude of the documented impacts of climate change on Arctic ecosystems, and the intimacy of connections between their human and wildlife communities, makes this region an appropriate area for development of One Health approaches to identify and mitigate the effects of climate warming at the community, ecosystem, and landscape scales.

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Section: Environmental Toxins and Contaminantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change in the North American Arctic: A One Health Perspective

et al. 2015

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“…The mobility of PCBs in the environment is evidenced by contamination detected in industrial and rural habitats, including the arctic despite its isolation (Cornelissen et al, 2008;Jartun et al, 2008;Kalinovich et al, 2008Kalinovich et al, , 2012. PCBs in marine environments can originate from onshore sources including military sites which warrant specific concern given their frequent coastal location (Jartun et al, 2009;Kuzyk et al, 2005;Poland et al, 2001).…”

Section: General Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, it is advantageous to remove PCBs from paint before the contaminant enters the environment. Painted structures at military sites are of particular interest due to the volume of contamination remaining after they are no longer utilized (Poland et al, 2001).…”

Section: General Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case study of a non-destructive treatment method for the remediation of military structures containing polychlorinated biphenyl contaminated paint

Saitta

Gittings

Novaes-Card

et al. 2015

Journal of Environmental Management

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“…After closure, the MCRL stations in the Subarctic were not properly decommissioned (Gibson, 1993). Other radar-line sites have been point sources of contaminants (especially PCBs and lead) in the Canadian North (Bright et al, 1995a, b, c;Dushenko et al, 1996;ESG, 1999a;Poland et al, 2001). In 1997, representatives of the Canadian federal government, the Government of Ontario, and the First Nations (FNs) of the western James Bay region (northern Ontario) entered into a partnership to investigate the MCRL sites in Ontario and make recommendations for remediation of these sites if required (ESG, 1999b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protecting the Health of First Nation Personnel at Contaminated Sites: A Case Study of Mid-Canada Radar Line Site 050 in Northern Canada

Tsuji¹,

Wainman²,

Weber³

et al. 2010

ARCTIC

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Recently, First Nation (FN) organizations have entered into agreements with federal and provincial government representatives to remediate radar-line sites in Ontario. These agreements stipulated that FN people would take part in the site delineation and remediation process to gain job experience and economic benefits. One important aspect of the process was protecting FN personnel from contaminant exposure and thus, from potential negative health outcomes associated with the cleanup work itself. In this paper, we describe the safety precautions used by FN workers preparing Mid-Canada Radar Line (MCRL) Site 050 for Phase 2 of the delineation process and the health monitoring protocol that was tested. We measured concentrations of total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs as Aroclor 1260), 14 individual PCB congeners, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDE, nine other organochlorine pesticides, and lead in the blood of Fort Albany FN workers before they started work at Site 050 and approximately a week before they completed their three-month work period in the contaminated zone. No significant differences were found in the paired samples. These results indicate that the safety precautions taken were adequate for the work and the site in question. The monitoring protocol discussed here may be used as a template and modified to meet the specific needs of other projects. The results of this study are important because other Aboriginal groups have entered or will be entering into agreements with government organizations for the remediation of other MCRL sites in Ontario and across Canada.

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Remediation of former military bases in the Canadian Arctic

Cited by 47 publications

References 5 publications

Climate Change in the North American Arctic: A One Health Perspective

Climate Change in the North American Arctic: A One Health Perspective

Case study of a non-destructive treatment method for the remediation of military structures containing polychlorinated biphenyl contaminated paint

Protecting the Health of First Nation Personnel at Contaminated Sites: A Case Study of Mid-Canada Radar Line Site 050 in Northern Canada

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