PORT HOPE - For the past 12 years, requests to federal authorities for independent, comprehensive health studies and broad based biological testing for Port Hope residents have fallen on deaf ears, says the Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee (PHCHCC) chairwoman.

At a Nov. 13 news conference in Toronto, the PHCHCC announced recent urine sample testing found commercial and industrially-sourced uranium contamination in the bodies of a handful of Port Hope residents. Chairwoman Faye More says she hopes Health Canada and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) will take a hard, long look at the study findings and finally put the health of Port Hope residents at the top of the agenda, "where it should be."

The PHCHCC's goal is for comprehensive independent health assessment of past and current residents in order to determine if long term exposure to radioactive and heavy metal contaminants from 60 years of nuclear industry operations in Port Hope has impacted or is likely to impact on the health of the people, says Ms. More, the same goal as the circa-1980 Port Hope Environmental Advisory Committee's.

"Our goal is and has always been for clear, better information to fill the gaps (about community health) that have been missing for decades," she says.

The Uranium Medical Research Centre (UMRC) testing found U236, the signature of spent nuclear reactor fuel, in some of the samples, she explains. Yet, according to CNSC documents, this is not the type of uranium found in the community, she notes.

"Then how is this (contamination) possible in Port Hope" says Ms. More. "There is a mystery here and the federal authorities and the CNSC owe the people of Port Hope the answers."

Ms. More says the recent urine testing and its findings, paid for by the PHCHCC, opens the door for more independent, comprehensive biological testing that should rightfully be conducted and paid for by the federal government, not a volunteer organization. In 1979, the federal government promised $5 million to do just that but has yet to meet its commitment, she says.

"I feel Port Hope people do want answers and proper health monitoring especially before the clean-up (of historic low-level radioactive waste in the community) begins," she says. "Without proper baseline studies, with a measure of the current health of residents, how could you ever measure the effects of the clean-up on residents' health down the road"

Ms. More says PHCHCC is optimistic the release of the UMRC study and the attention it has received will encourage federal authorities to fulfil its 1979 promise.

"The fact that our town, a lovely town, the town we all love, has radioactive issues is no secret," says Ms. More. "Comprehensive health studies before the community clean-up will benefit everyone."