Why is Cancer Sweeping Tiny Fort Chipewyan?

Why is Cancer Sweeping Tiny Fort Chipewyan?: "Published on Monday, May 22, 2006 by the Globe and Mail / Canada
Why is Cancer Sweeping Tiny Fort Chipewyan?
by Patrick Brethour


A generation ago, Lake Athabasca was clear and clean enough that Fort Chipewyan residents drew their drinking water straight from it, and thought nothing about dipping a cup over the side of a canoe during hunting trips. Those days are long gone, as industrial development -- particularly the explosive growth of the oil sands -- accelerates along the Athabasca River, the main tributary of Lake Athabasca.

The belief -- only that, for the moment -- in Fort Chipewyan is that something from the oil sands is contaminating the Athabasca and ravaging the health of the people who live downstream."