Study dismisses link between uranium tailings and cancer

Residents of this small community in the heart of the Kawartha Lakes tourist region received some good news recently from the Ontario Ministry of Health.

An investigation by the ministry into possible contamination of the area’s water supply turned up no evidence that tailings from the nearby Dyno uranium mine are responsible for a high incidence of cancer in the village.

The mine has been closed for two decades. The study was launched after a concerned citizen, Randy Sayles, told town council he had compiled a list of more than 50 people in the area who had been stricken with cancer. The names, in some cases, went back 20 years. The town asked the ministry to look into the matter, and the ministry then began its study in mid-summer. Its findings were released at a recent town hall meeting.

“Mr. Sayles was correct. There were a lot of cancer cases here,” said Dr. Garry Humphreys, medical officer for the county of Peterborough, under whose jurisdiction Apsley falls. However, he quickly pointed out to the packed hall that “you also have three times the national average of people over 65. In fact, it’s 34% of your population.”

Additionally, Humphreys explained: “There has been a wide spectrum in the kinds of cancers we’ve found — almost 20 types. If the water supply was contaminated, you would find a cluster of certain types, intestinal cancer, for example. We didn’t find that. Nor did we find any cases of cancer in children or adolescents, which we would have if there was something wrong with the water.”

The news came as a relief to business people and cottagers in the region, concerned that the study — with its attending publicity — was having a detrimental effect on tourism and real estate values.

The ministry’s study involved surveying all of the residents of Apsley, examining local medical centre files dating back 20 years and interviewing all of the people named on Sayles’ list.