Introduction For hundreds of years, the First Nation of Aamjiwnaang has been lived there. Aamjiwnaang is located in Sarnia where 40% of Canada's petrochemical industry is located. The documentary movie “Canada's Toxic Chemical Valley” discussed this environmental health issue that facing Sarnia’s residences. The story of the chemical valley had been started when the oil was discovered in1800 in Sarnia, then the mass industrialization was devolved there and the business became to boom. During the last 70 years, Sarnia became the major center of petrochemical industry, while the issue of environmental health was not existed. Currently, there are about 60 petrochemical plants and oil refineries that work in the chemical valley that are …show more content…
The World Health Organization considered Sarnia as the worst air in all of Canada. This is a serious health concern for the people of Aamjiwnaang, as their community has reported to have higher cancer and miscarriage rates than the national average. One of the major issues that the residents of Aamjiwnaang facing is the chemical leaks from the plants themselves which go unreported often. In 2013, there were three spills of hydrogen sulfide. One of them sent several small children from Aamjiwnaang's daycares to the hospital (Maguire, 2013). Hydrogen sulfide H2S is a significant fatal occupational and environmental hazard that has a danger pattern of toxicity. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a flammable gas, colorless, and has an odor of rotten eggs. The concentration of this gas in the air is more important than the duration of the exposures. the movie also stated that because the shell did not probably alert the community, the children with acute symptoms are usually have a wrong diagnosis of flu or cold while they are suffering from hydrogen sulfide exposure, H2S At a level of 0–5 ppm in the air, it can be detected easily. At levels greater than 10 ppm it can affect human health, while levels of more than 600 ppm can cause death (Rattanapan, Suksaroj, Chumpikul, & Choosong,
The Alberta Oil Sands are large deposits of bitumen in north-eastern Alberta. Discovered in 1848, the first commercial operation was in 1967 with the Great Canadian Oil Sands plant opening, and today many companies have developments there. The Alberta Oil Sand development is very controversial, as there are severe environmental impacts and effects on the local Aboriginal peoples. This essay will discuss the need for changes that can be made for the maximum economic benefit for Canada, while reducing the impact on the environment and limiting expansion, as well as securing Alberta’s future. Changes need to be made to retain the maximum economic benefits of the Alberta Oil Sands while mitigating the environmental and geopolitical impact. This will be achieved by building pipelines that will increase the economic benefits, having stricter environmental regulation and expansion limitations, and improving the Alberta Heritage Fund or starting a new fund throu...
The first think that I see when I walk outside everyday is the layer of haze that looms across the Wasatch Front. It doesn’t surprise me that The American Lung Association gave Salt Lake City an F, on our “State of the Air” report card. (American Lung Association,2013).What companies are the biggest contributor to our pollution? Should our children suffer the consequences of pollution? There are many causes and effects of pollution along the Wasatch Front, which includes large industrial companies, commercial companies and household pollution.
Canadian landform regions include the Interior Plains, Canadian Shield and the Western Cordillera, Innuitian Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, Great Lakes St. Lawrence Lowlands, Arctic and Hudson's Bay Lowlands. When studying the Interior Plains, we learned it’s a dry, flat land called the ‘breadbasket’ of Canada. The Interior Plains are made up of sedimentary rock. The topics covered in unit 3 were the levels of industry, resources, sustainability, trade and oil resources. The oil sand industry brings great impacts to Canada. This industry creates jobs and lowers taxes. It is also Canada’s largest and most important export. On the other hand, oil sands damage the environment and contaminate the water and air, which make people sick. These two ideas are connected because oil sands are found in the fossil fuels in sedimentary rock. Oil sands are extracted from sedimentary rock. We also learned that sedimentary rock is the only rock that contains fossil fuels. Oil is trapped within the layers of sediments and can be extracted by a well or open-pit mining. Without the Interior Plains, Canada wouldn’t have as much oil resources and have negative trade
Now, sustainable development and quality of life are crucial to the well being of our nation. Thus, I have pondered many a year on this very important matter and have consulted a very knowing Canadian of my acquaintance at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The amount of natural resources in this country being usually reckoned infi...
In this project we explored the oil industry along the Delaware River, and considered its social, economic, environmental implications in local, regional, global contexts. Clearly the oil industry along the Delaware River has prospered the local, regional, and in some sense global economy. It has also, however, brought about social, environmental issues, positive or negative, directly or indirectly. We are trying to view the oil industry along the Delaware River in a dialectical way, to give the pros and cons, because it is really difficult to make a definite conclusion.
EPA. (2009, December 29). Retrieved January 15, 2011, from Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health: http://www.epa.gov/teach/
In a world where money is large part of everyone's lives. It gets harder and harder to define what methods are right in order to make money and weather preserving the environment is more important than maintaining our country's economy. One controversial area that usually brought up in these conversations is the Alberta oil sands. The Alberta oil sands is an industry where it involves bringing up oil sands (mixture of sand, water, clay and bitumen) through drilling or mining and getting crude oil to us in a variety items/ products. It is one of the largest industries in Canada and large part of what maintains our economy. The 2009 movie Avatar is the highest grossing movie of all-time. The movie itself revolves around humans coming to a planet
They try to prove that the emission of chemicals from the Shell company are actually hazardous and are released at unsafe concentrations. With respect to the Ecological Model of health, the focus here is the relationship between the citizens and their environment, so any change in the environment can affect the health of citizens (Drummer. 2008). Another focus is the location relative to the Shell company that is an issue. The residents of this town are faced with health problems due to the location of the Shell company, which enforces that Health Geography is a big influence here (Drummer. 2003). Citizens within the Diamond community report increasing rates of asthma in children, along with machines in their house to help prevent/cope with allergies. The location plays a major role as to why these negative health effects are occurring since the chemical plant is emitting these chemicals nearby. When the air was tested, multiple chemicals were found but one that stood out was Benzene which is known to have cancer causing effects (WHO. 2018). Even with this knowledge, the Shell company continued to claim that the living conditions within this city were adequate (Grunberg.
"Stakeholders Realtions (Oil Sands) Pdf." CBSR. Canadian Buisness for Social Responsibility, May 2009. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. .
People who work or exercise outside for a lengthy period are also vulnerable. Exposure to air pollution increases sensitivity to allergens, impairs lungs, causes asthma attacks and death (Climate change, 2007). Air pollution can cause short-term respiratory symptoms such as coughing, throat irritation, and shortness of breath (California’s drought, 2015). The most harmful pollutants in the air are ozone, fine particles, and air toxics. Since the drought causes warmer weather, levels of ozone or smog increase in the air. Ozone is the principal component of smog and it is dangerous on ground level, which affects human health, crops, and buildings. Ozone smog is formed when vehicle and factory pollution react with sunlight and heat (Climate change, 2007). The lack of storms due to the drought eliminates the natural cleansing effect of precipitation. The low levels of precipitation trap fine particles on ground level. Fine particles in the air are harmful when inhaled and can heighten respiratory illnesses such as asthma and bronchitis. Air toxics are the chemicals in the air that can cause cancer or serious health problems. Mercury, asbestos, and benzene are dangerous air toxics and diesel exhaust particulate is the number one airborne carcinogen in California (California’s drought, 2015). Allergens in the air also affect pollution as
No other metal better illustrates the diversity of effects caused by different chemical species than does mercury. On the basis of chemical speciation, there are three forms of mercury: elemental, inorganic, and organic compounds.
In conclusion, even though mining is an important aspect in the Canadian economy; are all the health risks and environmental risks worth it? Some who sees the immediate rewards of mining, such as money and status may say ‘yes.” However if we continue to over mine, one day we will not have things we use every day such as electricity. This might not happen in our lifetime but the future generations will be affected. Isn’t it ironic that the Earth has given us livelihood and sustains us; we in turn abundantly and viciously take from the Earth? The effects of taking too much will kill us. As my mother says “if you take, you need to give” My way of giving will be educating my generation and my peers who are the future.
The majority of Canada’s population is centralized in Ontario and Quebec (Brander, 2014). A large share of the economic activity in these two provinces is related to manufacturing (Brander, 2014). Meanwhile, western provinces are more closely connected to resource-based industries, such as mining, energy, and forestry (Brander, 2014). Provinces within Canada manage and tax their own natural resources (Boadway, Coulombe, & Tremblay, 2013). Thus, the geography of Canada combined with the jurisdiction for natural resources poses a problem when attempting to combat the Dutch disease (Bimenyimana & Vallée, 2011). The resource boom is affecting two different parts of Canada (Bimenyimana & Vallée, 2011). Western provinces, specifically Alberta, are benefiting from the resource boom in the oil and gas industry (Bimenyimana & Vallée, 2011). Meanwhile, provinces with large manufacturing sectors, particularly Ontario and Quebec...
Every year, more than sixty-six million tons of poisonous gas is emptied into the air,
When we look at Enbridge’s Line 9 and the pipeline carrying oil substance that it was not initially designed for we can apply the discipline of environmental sociology and dismember the different aspects and analyze them individually to understand how outcomes are produced. Environmental sociology, in regards to Line 9 addresses the social relations between some of the major towns and cities that the pipe runs through and explains how capitalism forms the base of environmental deterioration as financial income and wealth accumulation are often factors that receive more recognition. The familiar understanding of the Line 9 is that the government and city officials declare that it is safely distributing oil, when in reality, when we as sociologists observe and record that it is providing more societal concerns than it is claiming. This can be obtained through an examination of the numerous health affects that are presented through documentaries, such as residents suffering from seizures, and the arrest of a gentlemen who displayed signs of insanity and madness (Line 9, Film). It is at this point where it can be understood that environmental sociology helps us recognize human diversity and the challenges of living in a diverse world through the examination of human behavior and action towards environmental concerns. In the documentary, This Changes Everything, we are shown that fossil fuels are a growing concern that is attracting the attention of local residents who acknowledge that we are all sharing a common atmospheric space that needs attention from all individuals on all different social and economic levels (This Changes Everything, Film). When environmental