Dear Editor,
Did you know that there are approximately 500 plus other people in Turner Valley who think that Roxanne Walsh knows how to get things done? Just to get the facts straight, the historic value of the provincial and national historic site has never been in question when it comes to the Turner Valley gas plant. No, it is the contamination in the soil at the plant that is of concern.
Yes, I know no one has died as a direct result of the gas plant or sour gas flaring for that matter. The people who have lived here since the gas plant was constructed have lived well into their 70’s, so that proves that no one has or will die from pollution in Turner Valley or Black Diamond correct?
I remember in the late 80’s that there were a few nurses who had worked at the hospital for many years. They had become concerned as they saw more patients with MS than should show up in an area with such a small population. Years later the head of the Highwood Health Region reviewed some early studies that showed high rates of MS in the Foothills region. A coincidence, perhaps, but if a member of your family began developing symptoms of MS and you found out that there existed a correlation between flaring and MS, would you not want something done?
Just because no one has linked the threads together and made a foolproof case, does that mean that we should sit around while people live with illness that could be prevented? Do all of you really believe that unless three or more people die of unusual cancers or tumors that we should sit by and do nothing?
And really, do all of you think that the provincial Conservative government is so weak and easy to push around that they would spend $7 million building a containment wall around the gas plant because of one person?
The gas plant was sold to the Provincial Government for $1 in 1985 and no clean up occurred at the time of the sale and none (other than bat guano and asbestos) had occurred until Ms. Walsh and others, came on the scene.
Do you really want Turner Valley to remain at the environmental health standards of the 1950s Ms. Brownell?
Julie Walker
Turner Valley
