Environmental Justice For Indigenous People In Canada’s Chemical Valley

"Home is both refuge and prison for citizens of Canada’s Chemical Valley.

There, human and more-than-human residents dwell on a threshold between a state of normalcy and emergency. Chemical Valley is a heavy industrial zone, located in southwestern Ontario and responsible for approximately 40 percent of Canada’s chemical manufacturing, with sixty-two plants on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. It is Ontario’s worst air pollution hotspot.

Chemicals from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation’s industrial neighbours include benzene, hydrogen sulfide, and sulphur dioxide. In Chemical Valley, individuals must be prepared for hazardous incidents at any given time. In general, alerts occur in the case of a chemical spill, fire, explosion, nuclear emergency, extreme weather event, or transportation accident. In Aamjiwnaang, such occurrences have become the norm."

Sarah Wiebe reports for Environmental Health News October 10, 2016, in an excerpt from her new book  "Everyday Exposure: Indigenous Mobilization and Environmental Justice in Canada’s Chemical Valley".