For almost a decade, Bertha Smith has been crusading
on behalf of former workers in Marystown, sick or dying, from their jobs at the
town’s shipyard.
Now, she wonders if she’s a victim, too.
Diagnosed with lung cancer last October, Smith
suspects it’s connected to her days of handling her husband’s asbestos-covered
work clothes.
Asbestos was widely used in shipbuilding and many
other industries, before a growing body of research confirmed its connection to
serious and fatal illnesses.
Ship breaking: Newfoundland’s legacy with
one of the most hazardous jobs
Her everyday routine included shaking out the dust
before washing them, and draining the filthy water into their bathtub.
“Then, when the washer was done, of course, you’d do
the bathtub, and same thing, you’d use your bare hands for cleaning that,”
recalled the 70-year-old.
“So, I was handling it to a great extent, too, with
my bare hands. Not realizing the danger of it at the time, because there really
wasn’t much education on the dangers of asbestos at the time, in the 70s.”
Her husband, Bill, died in 1997 of a brain tumour. He
was 57 years old.
He went to his grave blaming asbestos exposure from
his carpentry job at the shipyard, although he was turned down for
compensation.
Along with Bernadine Bennett, (the daughter of another
shipyard worker who died young) Smith formed the Marystown Shipyard Families
Alliance, which has been lobbying the Workplace Health Safety and Compensation
Commission to compensate stricken workers.
As of March 6, the Commission said it has received 84
claims for occupational disease from shipyard workers.
Fewer than half, 34, have been accepted, with nine
pending a decision.
Ship breaking operations at a Newfoundland
shipyard have left an unhealthy legacy. Ross Lord explains.
Even before her diagnosis, Smith and Bennett had been
calling for an investigation into the effects on family members and the entire
community.
“I know of a couple more families that have had
cancer and husbands were working at the shipyard at the time. I’m thinking there
is a connection there with the men coming home from the shipyard and bringing
it home to their families.”
Memorial University researcher Stephen Bornstein, who
has studied asbestos disease extensively, has come to the same conclusion.
“And you might even want to study the community,
based on distance from the shipyard. And I think what you are likely to find is
that the closer people lived to the shipyard, the more cases you find of
asbestos-related disease.”
Bornstein notes almost any exposure to asbestos can
cause cancer, and that latency periods of 20 years are not unusual.
Breaking the chrysotile habit: Track the
decline of Canada’s asbestos industry
But confirming the cause of Smith’s cancer is
difficult.
Like many at the time, she was a smoker, a habit made
even more hazardous when combined with exposure to cancer-causing asbestos.
“The resulting quantified risk isn’t just the total
of one plus the other, it’s much more than that.”
Smith doesn’t pretend to know if cigarettes are to
blame, or the asbestos she handled to support her husband’s career.
“It just makes me wonder, is it the cause of my
cancer?”
She has undergone radiation and is currently
receiving chemotherapy. More chemo is planned, but her doctor is pleased with
her progress.
The medication and emotional roller-coaster leaves
her frequently exhausted.
The controversy at the yard stems from the 1960s to
the early 90s, when the yard was owned by the Newfoundland government.
A private owner has since enacted new safety
standards, that have appeased critics.
That’s too late for many of the workers Bertha Smith
has been fighting for.
Hopefully, not too late for her.
She’s pursuing legal options for herself, and vows to
continue the fight.
“I’m hoping for the best,” she said, forcing a weary,
uncertain smile.
Source: global news.
13 May 2015
http://globalnews.ca/news/1996109/newfoundland-woman-fighting-for-her-own-life-after-crusading-for-shipyard-workers/
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