Study finds air quality problems around First Nation oilsands community
FORT MCKAY, Alta. — A major study of air quality in a northern Alberta indigenous community surrounded by oilsands development suggests there is a chance ongoing exposure to airborne chemicals may be damaging people’s health.
The study by Alberta Health and the province’s energy regulator has found more than a dozen chemicals push past environmental and odour thresholds at least some of the time in Fort McKay First Nation.
“The report did find the air in Fort McKay does, at times, contain substances at levels above what is recommended for human health,” said Karen Grimsrud, Alberta’s chief medical officer of health.
“What the report does not answer is how these air quality events might affect human health.”