Human Health Risk Assessment of Ambient Air In A Dispute Over Petrochemical Emissions

Combined air emissions from multiple petrochemical facilities operating in the area known as Chemical Valley in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, have led to escalating concerns over health effects to nearby residents. By conducting a quantitative health risk assessment of ambient air data collected from 2008-2014, this thesis investigated whether current emissions are resulting in increased health risk for the population living near Chemical Valley. The results of this analysis are that health risks are slightly higher than levels considered acceptable for large populations, but are within levels often accepted for smaller groups based on the traditional risk assessment - risk management paradigm. Interpreting these results in the context of the literature about the science-policy interface, and environmental dispute resolution, this thesis highlights several problems with using the traditional risk assessment - risk management paradigm as the basis for decision-making in environmental disputes— particularly when the affected population is Indigenous.

Freshturf+ A Cultural Atlas of the Great Lakes Basin and a Studio Great Lakes Urbanism Workshop

FRESHTURF+ is a Cultural Atlas of the Great Lakes Basin, based on a proposal by Studio Great Lakes for a Freshturf region, which challenges existing North American regional forms through a critical territorial assessment of Economy, Environment, Technology, Society, and Geopolitics. It is an initial step to a reconceptualization and reconstruction of the Great Lakes to strengthen an evolving and expanding identity for the region's urbanism and culture. Great Lakes Great Lakes Basin Great Lakes Urbanism GLurbanism Studio Great Lakes Editor Elizabeth George Editor Scott Sorli Editor Scott Sørli Perry Kulper James Corner Edward Burtynsky Arthur Wrigglesworth Gilles Deleuze Félix Guattari Mapping Rhizome Soft Space Culture Pollution Urbanism Urban Sprawl Urban Acupuncture Fulfillment Centres Fulfillment Centers Soil Waste Community Aurora Lights Geomagnetic Storms Navigation Invasive Species Population Migration Sea Level Rise Mental Health Biodiversity Loss Demolition Indigenous Communities Chemical Valley

Freshturf+ A Cultural Atlas of the Great Lakes Basin and a Studio Great Lakes Urbanism Workshop

FRESHTURF+ is a Cultural Atlas of the Great Lakes Basin, based on a proposal by Studio Great Lakes for a Freshturf region, which challenges existing North American regional forms through a critical territorial assessment of Economy, Environment, Technology, Society, and Geopolitics. It is an initial step to a reconceptualization and reconstruction of the Great Lakes to strengthen an evolving and expanding identity for the region's urbanism and culture. Great Lakes Great Lakes Basin Great Lakes Urbanism GLurbanism Studio Great Lakes Editor Elizabeth George Editor Scott Sorli Editor Scott Sørli Perry Kulper James Corner Edward Burtynsky Arthur Wrigglesworth Gilles Deleuze Félix Guattari Mapping Rhizome Soft Space Culture Pollution Urbanism Urban Sprawl Urban Acupuncture Fulfillment Centres Fulfillment Centers Soil Waste Community Aurora Lights Geomagnetic Storms Navigation Invasive Species Population Migration Sea Level Rise Mental Health Biodiversity Loss Demolition Indigenous Communities Chemical Valley

Human Health Risk Assessment of Ambient Air In A Dispute Over Petrochemical Emissions

Combined air emissions from multiple petrochemical facilities operating in the area known as Chemical Valley in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, have led to escalating concerns over health effects to nearby residents. By conducting a quantitative health risk assessment of ambient air data collected from 2008-2014, this thesis investigated whether current emissions are resulting in increased health risk for the population living near Chemical Valley. The results of this analysis are that health risks are slightly higher than levels considered acceptable for large populations, but are within levels often accepted for smaller groups based on the traditional risk assessment - risk management paradigm. Interpreting these results in the context of the literature about the science-policy interface, and environmental dispute resolution, this thesis highlights several problems with using the traditional risk assessment - risk management paradigm as the basis for decision-making in environmental disputes— particularly when the affected population is Indigenous.

“Doing Ecology” in the Chemical Valley: Pedagogies of Time, Scale, and Participation in The Chemical Valley Project

Dans cet article, Christine Balt examine comment la pièce The Chemical Valley Project, jouée au Théâtre Passe Muraille de Toronto en avril 2019, sert de modèle pour illustrer des méthodes et des pédagogies en théâtre qui permettent de stimuler une action climatique porteuse de sens en théâtre écologique. Plutôt que vouloir comme d’autres trouver une solution de rechange aux récits de « l’inévitable apocalypse » qui caractérisent le théâtre écologique, Balt se demande comment le Chemical Valley Project donne vie à l’idée exprimée par Carl Lavery de « faire de l’écologie » afin de promouvoir le théâtre en tant que ressource capable de proposer des moyens plus affectifs, plus matériels, plus relationnels et porteurs d’espoir qui nous permettront de faire face à cette époque précaire sur le plan écologique. Balt s’intéresse à la manière dont les processus dramaturgiques incarnés et localisés de la pièce constituent un « faire de l’écologie », en passant notamment par le concept d’« appréhension » de Rob Nixon — arrêter et confronter les relations écologiques invisibles qui traversent les différences de temps et d’échelle — et celui d’« esthétique du soin » de James Thompson — où de nouvelles communautés, solidarités et alliances naissent grâce à des moments de participation du public. Balt conclut que l’« appréhension » et une « esthétique du soin » pourraient être mises au service du « faire de l’écologie » ou de pédagogies connexes, lesquels pourraient, à leur tour, aider à formuler une vision plus attentionnée, active et porteuse d’espoir du théâtre écologique et informer des modes d’action décisifs, collectifs et sensibles face à la crise climatique.

A perfect storm: embodied workers, emplaced corporations, and delayed reflexivity in a Canadian 'Risk Society'

At the turn of the 21st century, an occupational disease epidemic began to unfold in Sarnia, Ontario, home to the petrochemical complex known as Canada's 'Chemical Valley.' Given the long latency periods for these diseases, the hazardous exposures that produced them would have occurred over a period of decades during the latter 20th century. This suggests a paradox: what accounts for unionized Canadian men working for decades in conditions that posed such grave risks to their health? Or, put in terms of Ulrich Beck's compelling and influential model: given that Chemical Valley during the second half of the 20th century constituted a quintessential "risk society" of the modern West, where were the forces of "political reflexivity" – resistance leading to change – typically provoked by the excesses of such societies? In this article, I seek to resolve this paradox with a political ecology approach that focuses on workers' embodied experience in the micro-environment of their workplace and community, as well as on the material and social emplacement of petrochemical facilities in the region. The analysis reveals a 'perfect storm' of converging ecological, cultural, political, and economic conditions that allowed local corporations to achieve extraordinary power. Consequently, even as activism for occupational and environmental justice was effecting change in similar industrial centers throughout Ontario and the Great Lakes region, these changes failed to take hold in Chemical Valley. The article concludes by suggesting that those 20th century power dynamics have continued into the 21st century, where reflexivity delayed might well have atrophied into reflexivity denied.Keywords: embodiment, emplacement, risk society, petrochemical corporations, industrial workers, Canada, Great Lakes region

Assessment of PCB trajectories along French river corridors between 1945 and 2018

<p>The reconstruction and modelling of contamination trajectories in rivers is a key concern to investigate spatio-temporal impacts of long-term anthropogenic activities. This issue is highly significant for persistent organic pollutants, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), known for their toxicity, their low degradation rates and their hydrophobic properties leading to their accumulation in sediments and biota. Increasingly produced and released worldwide from the 1930s to the 1970-1980s, PCBs were analysed in numerous studies dealing with river sediment quality. However, data syntheses are uncommon at the scale of large hydrosystems, and source-to-estuary approaches along rivers are still needed. Accordingly, we propose an original work integrating PCBs analyses on different solid matrices (sediment cores, bed and flood deposits, suspended particulate matters, and dredged sediments) originating from both research programmes and monitoring. Based on more than 1400 validated analyses, temporal trends of the PCB contamination were reconstructed since 1945 along the four main fluvial corridors in France (Rhône, Seine, Loire and Garonne Rivers). The relationships with socio-environmental factors were also deciphered by integrating hydrological and human spatio-temporal data (cumulative river discharge, population hot spots, urban and industrial surfaces). This work highlighted that the main contaminant trends were driven by regulation, but also by sediment transport and accidental releases (especially since the 1990s). In general, urban and industrial areas were the main contributors to the PCB contamination of rivers: around and downstream of Paris and Rouen (Seine River), Lyon and its “Chemical Valley” (Rhône River), Saint-Etienne and Nantes conurbations (Loire River), and probably downstream of Toulouse and Bordeaux (Garonne River). Relatively high concentrations persisted after the end of the PCB production due to chronic diffuse inputs and accidental releases, particularly on the Rhône River. Moreover, the estimation of specific fluxes revealed that up to 12 µg/m²/yr (i.e. 0.9 t/yr on average) of PCBs were brought by French rivers, especially by the Rhône, Seine and Loire Rivers (ranked in order of importance) to Western European seas since the 1970s.</p>

Control and Suppression in Sarnia’s Chemical Valley during the 1960s

During the 1960s, Sarnia was the wealthiest city in Ontario and the one with the dirtiest air. Its economy was dominated by Chemical Valley, the city’s petrochemical industry. Chemical Valley firms and executives were civically active, donating to public causes, dominating the local chamber of commerce, and working closely with provincial and municipal officials to ensure a friendly business environment. They also maintained a monopoly on information about local air pollution levels and were not required by government to adhere to clean air regulations. However, like the rest of the chemical industry at the time, Chemical Valley was exposed to an onslaught of negative publicity, raising the threat of regulation and loss of their control over emissions data and production processes. This article illustrates how economic elites in Sarnia prevented the problematization and regulation of air pollution. In doing so, it describes the actors in the policy system and examines its recourse to suppress dissent when activists sought to raise the air pollution issue.