Residents living near Port Weller are worried about the air they breathe in light of ongoing problems with clinker dust.
The clinker dust is used to make Portland cement, and the issue involves the movement of the dust when it is taken from ships and then loaded onto trucks for transport to a concrete company in Woodstock. Homeowners in the area say the dust becomes airborne and settles on their homes and their cars.
Although the companies working with the dust say they have taken measures to keep the dust down, such as using tarps and wetting down the dust, another public meeting was held last night.
Grantham ward councillor Sandie Bellow was in attendance to hear residents' worries.
"People are concerned about their lungs. Some have gone to the doctor's and they are having problem breathing. Some are on a puffer. They don't really know what it is. And one man said, 'I grew up with The Love Canal and I moved here and I don't want to see the same thing.'"
Bellows says the city's hands continued to be tied because the property is crown land owned by the federal St. Lawrence Seaway Authority
In the past, the Ontario Environment Ministry conducted air quality tests and found the particulate level was within acceptable limits, but residents are now hearing that has changed.
"The Ministry can write them an order and that order is written up. They met with QSL the day before and they are going to figure out a path so they can do a better unload and do all the procedures for safety."
Bellows says they were disappointed no representatives from the Seaway authority attended the meeting