The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor More than two years after the Hudbay copper smelter closed, not all health concerns linked to the toxin-spewing facility have necessarily been laid to rest. Which is why area children are once again undergoing blood tests to determine whether the levels of lead in their growing bodies are dissipating. 'We hope to get good rates of participation among the families of Flin Flon and Creighton,' said Dr. Murray Lee, principal investigator for the study. 'The results from the study will help provide answers as to what are the current levels of exposure to lead, and if there has been any change.' A 2010 study concluded that smelter pollution posed a negligible to low health risk, but it also recommended that youth be tested for lead a second time following initial tests performed in 2009. Compare levels The new study will compare children's current lead levels to those from three years earlier. It will help determine if lead exposure has decreased in children under the age of seven, the group generally most susceptible to the effects of lead exposure. The study will run throughout September with invitations and visits to eligible households having started last week. Dr. Lee hopes about 250 children will participate, with the consent of their parents, from across all neighborhoods of Flin Flon and Creighton. Participating children will provide a small sample of blood via a finger prick. There will also be a household interview with parents / guardians, and some environmental sampling around the home involving soil, water, dust and paint. See 'Modest...' pg. 3 Continued from pg. 1 Unless cottagers voluntarily pay City Hall a regular amount it deems fair, council will try to annex the subdivisions. That would make them part of Flin Flon and require cottagers to pay property taxes based on the assessed value of their homes. Russell, who lives at his cabin only in the summer, says he would support a proposal whereby cottagers voluntarily pay $50 or $100 to the city for every month they live at their cabins. He sees that amount as modest and a way to ensure seasonal cottagers are not paying as much as those who live at the lake year-round. 'I see their (council's) point,' says Russell, a retired high school teacher. 'They need to be financially sound and maybe they could budget differently and handle their finances differently, but we can't let them lose many of these services.' Yet Russell also understands the viewpoint held by many cottagers that since they are not part of Flin Flon, they should not have to pay fees unless they are using a municipal facility. 'The cottage owners say, 'Well, we're not part of the city and sure we support the city because we're driving in there, we're shopping and we're paying user fees if (we) are using some of the facilities,'' he says. 'Which is kind of valid and that's why I feel that, yeah, we shouldn't be expected to pay very much.' Russell argues that voluntarily supporting the municipality 'in this time of fiscal need' gives cottagers 'control (over) how much we pay.' 'If it goes to (annexation), we have no control and (there's a) guarantee it's going to go up and up,' he says. When it comes to the concept of annexation, Russell holds the dominant opinion of cottagers _ he is adamantly opposed. 'What does the city have to offer cottage owners?' he asks rhetorically. 'Not water, sewer and garbage (pick-up). Not pavement and sidewalks. Maybe not more policing nor better fire protection.' Forced to choose? Russell believes annexation could drive some retirees out of their cabins and possibly force even higher-income people who also own homes in Flin Flon to choose between their two properties. He is critical of Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen, who recently said he would 'work towards' annexation if city council goes down that path. 'I think he crossed the line saying he supports the city on this,' says Russell. 'He jumped the gun without thinking that, yeah, he supports the city, but he's an elected politician representing cottage owners, too.' Russell initially thought his cabin would be exempt from any annexation attempt since it is on park land, but a parks official told him that is not the case. At the end of the day, however, he does not see annexation as realistic. 'I'm not confident it's going to happen and if it does happen, I don't believe it's going to happen right away,' Russell says. 'I might be gone by the time it gets in, so it might not bother me financially. If it does happen before I leave, I think it's going to decrease the value of cottages. Who's going to buy a cottage, a summer cottage like this especially, if I'm having to pay $1,000, $2,000 tax money? So that's another big fight against annexation.' If the province allowed Flin Flon to annex its cottage country, Russell believes communities across Manitoba would be emboldened to do the same. And with many prominent Manitobans ownincottages, including doctors, lawyers and politicians, Russell is not sure this is a can of worms the government is prepared to open. At this point, the province has no public position on Flin Flon annexation. That's understandable since city council has not even put forth an application, and may never do so depending on how talks with cottagers proceed. If an application is made, Manitoba's Municipal Board would consider a host of factors before making a recommendation to Local Government Minister Ron Lemieux, who has the final say. List services Associations representing area cottagers recently called on council to list the services the city could provide to cabin owners and how much money would be expected in return. In a letter, they wrote that cottagers would expect such a proposal to include all non-resident users of municipal services, not just cottage owners. Council has not formally put forth any financial figures, instead asking that cottagers do so. But the cottage associations said 'it is more appropriate that the provider or owner of the services should generate the proposal for the sale of such services.' On the issue of annexation, the associations were straightforward: 'The cottage owners overwhelmingly oppose any annexation.'
