Petition to the Government of Saskatchewan

W5 aired a program bringing nationwide attention to the issue of asbestos cement pipes breaking down and getting into our water supply. I’m glad that the Saskatchewan Green Party was in the lead on this issue (with the help of ex-journalist Jay Branch, who researched this for 10 years).

Whereas:

- The Province of Saskatchewan has more than 1,000 kilometres of asbestos cement (AC) water mains;

- It is well known that asbestos is a highly toxic carcinogen;

- Scientific evidence indicates that asbestos is harmful when ingested as well as inhaled;

- The Saskatchewan government spent $ 5 million on a research centre to investigate asbestos cement water pipes;

- That research centre produced a series of studies referring to asbestos fibres in water as a “health concern”;

- No one has defined what that “health concern” is;

- That research centre said “severely deteriorated AC pipes also released fiber into the drinking water and could pose a hazard of malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract and other organs in consumers”;

- That research centre released a paper in 2010 saying that “immediate,” “urgent” steps were needed to “ensure a safe and clean drinking water supply” in Regina;