CANADA – ANOTHER SICK SEWER SLUDGE WORKER – BRIAN MARSHALL
Brian Marshall Picton Ontario 613 476 5107 April 2002
Brian Marshall worked for Terratec (Azurix) for 4.5 months in 2000 at the Pickard plant in Ottawa). He stared around
July 2000 and left November 2000. He loaded trucks with sludge and drove them to the dump or to the farm field,
unloaded, and returned.
He worked very long hours with lots of overtime. Despite his declining health and many requests, the company rep
(Darilyn Van Cleif) would not hire a temp to do the extra work, so he had to do overtime.
He was given NO occupational health and safety instruction, there was no safety committee at Azurix, and he received
no shots for hepatitis or other diseases. He was unaware of the need for such shots. He was not given a shower or a
locker. He was not told not to do his laundry together with the family laundry (he is supposed to have it industrially
cleaned). He was not warned about changing footwear before going home or entering his car.
He had rashes on his skin and open pustules on his face as a result of the sludge work. He was told this was a normal
reaction to working with sludge and might diminish over time. He started experiencing breathing difficulty shortly after
he started working. It was especially bad when he had to go to the top of the full truck and rake the sludge flat.
Finally the Ministry of Labour came in and did air quality tests in the sludge loading bay. He has a copy of the results.
The levels of ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and ammonia appear to exceed health and safety standards. The exhaust
fans were eventually repaired, but the health problems continued. He is now sensitized to gases and odours, and has
limited lung function, and asthma. He is on medication. He is short of breath after the least exertion. Fatigue is also a
problem. Brian Marshall is seeking compensation since his physician agrees
that his current health problems are permanent and work related."
************************************************************************************************************************
CANADA - THE PICTON GAZETTE - February 6, 2002 (ONTARIO)
BIOSOLIDS STOLE MAN'S BREATH
RESIDENT DEVELOPED ASTHMA AFTER WORKING WITH SLUDGE FOR THREE YEARS.
By W. Brice McVicar, Gazette Staff
The Ministry of the Environment may have recently assured Prince Edward County Council that spreading biosolids on
farmers fields is perfect safe, but Brian Marshall of Picton doesn't agree.
For three years, Marshall worked for a company in Ottawa that spread biosolids but had to leave his job due to health
problems, problems he never suffered from until he began working for the company. He loaded trucks with biosolids
which were then transported to farmers' fields in the Ottawa area where the liquid was spread.
Marshall now has severe asthma and is on a number of medications to help him though he can no longer stand fumes
of any type such as diesel fuel, cigarette smoke, and gasoline.
"I was healthy before I worked there. When I worked there I got blotches - sores - on my face. I asked them what
was wrong and they told me I just had to get used to the environment," Marshall told the Gazette.
"Three months later the sores started to go away and then my lungs gave out on me. I was called a whiner and all
sorts of names." Marshall's "whining" resulted in air quality tests at his place of work. The tests revealed a number
of chemicals in the air including ammonia, methyl mercaptan and dimethyl sulfide.
He called the Poison Control upon receiving a report of the findings and was shocked to learn the latter two chemicals
are pesticides. The air tests also revealed the exhaust fans at the plant he worked in were not running properly and
allowed these chemicals to linger in the air.
"I wouldn't want it around me," he said in regards to biosolids. "If I could go back, I wouldn't have taken that job. I
used to say this stuff was safe. I used to think it was okay to put on farmers' fields. I don't think so anymore. I think
it'll make everybody sick."
He explained he was once warned about taking his clothes and work-boots home after work. A technologist at the
plant told him it was unsafe to wash his work clothes in his home or wear the clothing near his children. Marshall,
though he had already been working for eight months, began changing his clothes before going home.
"Our life has been turned right around," the father of four and husband stated. "We had plans in life and getting that
job was the final thing in my life to make that kind of money. Now I have no future -- I've either got to be retrained or
live on a fixed income."
Marshall stressed he can no longer play with his children the way he did in the past. He used to be able to wrestle
with his three sons but he no longer has the breath to do any labourious activity.
"In this day and age," he noted, "I can't believe it happened in Canada. I would tell anybody not to do anything which
they think might not be safe. I'd rather make $500 a week for the rest of my life than making $60,000 a year at that
job."