Canada’s Toxic Chemical Valley
The Aamjiwnaang Aboriginal cemetery is located in Sarnia, Ontario. These people have been around for hundreds of years. They had great new neighbors about 70 years ago. When you visit Sarnia, Ontario, the first thing that strikes you is the smell. Imagine a mixture of gasoline, melted asphalt, and rotten eggs slapping your face and climbing up your nose with every breath you take. It’s a cocktail that can make you feel sick and dizzy.
The smell comes from Chemical Valley, where 40 percent of Canada’s petrochemical industry is concentrated in an area of 25 square kilometers. Chemical Valley is responsible for the production of gasoline, plastics, pesticides, fertilizers, cosmetics and a host of other chemicals on which Canadian society depends.
Canada’s petrochemical industry is estimated to generate $24 billion in sales in 2013 alone. Two years ago, the World Health Organization named Sarnia the worst air city in Canada, thanks to 60 petrochemical plants and refineries operating 24 hours a day.
This is a serious health problem for the people of Aamjiwnaang, as their community has consistently claimed cancer and miscarriage rates that are higher than the national average, yet the government has yet to conduct adequate health research to investigate these claims.
Tensions have long been high between Canada’s Indigenous communities, the government and the petrochemical industry. Regular participation in highway blockades and protests is the norm for many Indigenous communities in Canada fighting back against environmental degradation in their hometowns.
One of the major problems faced by residents of Aamjiwnaang is chemical spills from the factory itself. These leaks tend to go unreported, with three hydrogen sulphide leaks occurring in the first half of 2013 alone. One of them took several young children from the Aamjiwnaang daycare center to the hospital.
When VICE heard about the fighting in Aamjiwnaang’g, they knew they had to visit Chemical Valley for themselves to better understand how the relationship between Aboriginal people and the petrochemical industry was being managed and what was being done to improve the preservation of the people of Aamjiwnaang’g. Safety and the future of Chemical Valley.
They visited Sarnia on the sidelines of a high-profile energy conference. Political leaders and energy executives gathered in the city to discuss how to squeeze more money out of Canada’s most precious resource, oil. As you can imagine, the people of Aamjiwnaang were not happy to hear that more industry was pouring their way.
