'Grave threat': Mould, bacteria strikes Fort Albany homes

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'Grave threat': Mould, bacteria strikes Fort Albany homes

Timmins Daily Press - Timmins,Ontario,Canada*

Paradis, The Daily Press

Local News - Thursday, July 19, 2007 Updated @ 12:36:40 AM

http://www.timminspress.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?

contentid=619151 & catname=Local+News & classif=News+Alert

FORT ALBANY — Political officials scrambled Thursday and came just

shy of calling a state of emergency to address mould and bacteria

problems now plaguing this remote Northern community.

Area federal, provincial and First Nation government representatives

recruited health officials to assess what kind of risk the mould-

ridden homes of Fort Albany posed to the people who dwell in them.

Their conclusion: The problem is so severe in some cases that people

need to be immediately removed, or evacuated from their homes.

" I think this is a problem, " said Gabor, a family physician

stationed in the Bay Coast area. " It's urgent, and people are

suffering because of it.

" I think there's definitely a grave threat to the health of the

community. We need to remove some these people (from their homes)

and that should be the No. 1 priority. "

Ontario NDP members, along with MP Charlie Angus (NDP-Timmins-

Bay) accompanied the doctor to Fort Albany through part of their

fact-finding mission. The trip to the isolated fly-in First Nation,

located about 400 kilometres north of Timmins and only footsteps

from Kashechewan, came in response to a request from the Mushkegowuk

Tribal Council.

The doctor and politicians toured about five homes in the community,

which were known to have serious mould problems among other things.

For the full story, see Friday's edition.