SK must act now to remove asbestos in our drinking water

Petition to the Government of Saskatchewan

Asbestos cement water pipes

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;

Asbestos fibres in our drinking water

We, the undersigned, citizens of Saskatchewan, call upon the Government of Saskatchewan to

Take immediate steps to assess the health risks of asbestos in drinking water;

  1. Take immediate steps to define “health concerns”;
  2. Take immediate steps to define “malignant tumours of the gastrointestinal tract”;
  3. Release this data publicly in accessible formats;
  4. Develop a plan to safely replace and dispose of asbestos cement water pipes, including worker protection.

 

Who's signing

Alexander Logan
Genny Clinton
Barry Dickie
40 SIGNATURES
GOAL: 500 signatures

Will you sign?


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