A meeting last week failed to dispel a dark cloud of doubt that lingers for people farming near an oil battery in southwestern Manitoba.
An oil company and government officials said there is no evidence to suggest the battery near Tilston, Man., is a source of health problems for local landowners.
But those assurances, given at a March 25 meeting in Tilston, were offset by testimonials from people who fear they are being poisoned by toxic gases.
People such as Wendy Anderson suspect toxic gases triggered some of the symptoms that she and her husband have suffered in recent years. Aside from the oil battery, she can think of no other source for those gases.
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“It’s frustrating,” she said in an interview. “I personally doubt if they will ever know what exactly is happening.”
Anderson and her husband farm southeast of the oil battery, owned by Tundra Oil and Gas. That puts their farm in the path of prevailing winds coming from the Tundra facility.
Anderson said she has suffered headaches, neck aches and spells of dizziness in the past four years. Her husband, Jim, has endured swelling in his sinuses and chest pains, similar to the symptoms of a heart attack, in the past 18 months.
The Andersons have been advised by their family doctor to consider moving. They are giving that advice some serious thought.
“For us, I worry for our kids,” said Anderson, noting that their 16-year-old daughter has suffered headaches and unexplained bouts of fatigue in the past four years.
Manitoba Environment and Manitoba Energy and Mines have investigated. The environment department installed monitoring equipment last summer to detect sulfur dioxide.
The government monitor recorded high readings in January, but those were dismissed by suggestions that the equipment malfunctioned. The monitoring will continue, with more equipment being installed next month, said Bernie Chrisp, regional director for Manitoba Environment.
In the meantime, the government departments have no evidence to link emissions from the battery with health problems in the area. A provincial medical officer of health investigated in January and could not establish a connection either.
Meets standards
Tundra hired a third-party consultant this year to study its oil battery at Tilston. A Calgary consulting firm, Entech Environmental, found the battery met or surpassed all government standards established in Manitoba, said Tundra general manager George Czyzewski.
Tundra insists that it wants to be a good corporate citizen and is concerned about the well-being of people, animals and the environment. If there was evidence to show the plant was causing a problem, improvements would be made, Czyzewski said.
“We want to see a resolution to this. We have nothing to hide.”
At least 100 people attended the March 25 meeting in Tilston. Bruce Campbell, who was at the meeting, wonders how the issue can ever be resolved. Due to concerns about toxic gases, he and his family moved out of their farm home near the oil battery this winter. They now live at Reston, Man.
Campbell said they have no plans to return to their farm home. His son, Allan, collapsed there last summer while carrying a hand-held monitor that detected dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide.
“I don’t think we’ll be moving back there if something isn’t done,” Campbell said. “It would be nice to move home, but they haven’t made any changes there to make me think the situation has improved.”
