Residents want long term study on health effects of tar sands oil

State health officials should conduct long-term monitoring of the health of people exposed to tar sands oil as a result of last summer’s Enbridge pipeline rupture, residents at a Battle Creek forum said last night.

The forum, which drew about 40 people to the Burnham Brook Community Center, was held to discuss a recent report that outlines the unique environmental hazards associated with the tar sands oil, or diluted bitumen, that is increasingly imported from western Canada.

Last summer a Michigan Dept. of Community Health survey of residents near the spill-effected areas of Talmadge Creek and the Kalamazoo River found that most reported health effects such as headaches and nausea following the spill.

The Kalamazoo Gazette reports:

Susan Connolly, of Marshall, and Deb Miller, of Ceresco, called at Monday’s forum for a long-term public health study to be performed to gauge how the spill affected residents along the river, several of whom complained of burning eyes, upper respiratory problems and other symptoms. But the two women said that when they contacted the MDCH to inquire about such a long-term study, they were told the agency lacked funding, Connolly said.

Miller, who said she experienced health problems, said the state should look to Enbridge. “We need the support of agencies to make Enbridge pay for it (a study),” she said. “No one’s done a study on how this oil affects people. Now is the perfect opportunity.

“And as much as I’m concerned about what people experienced last summer, I’m more concerned about 20 years from now.”