Waste Management Planning: Disparities in Cancer Incidence and Outcomes in the Black Canadian Community of Shelburne Nova Scotia

Little is known about Canadian cancer disparities despite numerous international studies reporting disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes for people of African ancestry. These disparities reflect the interplay of social determinants of health, community planning, the environment and genetics.
 
As the lack of Canadian cancer disparity data may be shortening the lifespan of marginalized communities, we are studying a historic Black Nova Scotian community (Shelburne) adjacent to their old waste dump, who have an inordinately high incidence and family history of various cancers. This research requires a high-risk framework incorporating natural and social sciences to determine if waste planning, housing proximity, environmental, biological, genetic, socio-economic and lifestyle factors are associated with the high cancer incidence and mortality.
 
This study, funded by the New Frontiers in Research Fund, follows up on the pioneering work on Canadian environmental racism by McMasters’s Ingrid Waldron (this study’s Co-PI) through her book (2018) and subsequent documentary film (2019). The book and film featured the African Nova Scotian residents of Shelburne. We seek to determine whether the high cancer incidence and poor survival of African Nova Scotians in South Shelburne is due to the interplay of environmental, biological, genetic, low socio-economic status and lifestyle factors. We integrate diverse data collection methods (historical geography, epidemiology, toxicology, DNA sequencing, interviews, questionnaires) to achieve this goal.
 
The study includes:
1. Identifying geographical hotspots of cancer incidence and deaths — investigating the link between genetics, environment, lifestyle and chronic diseases. The demographic and socioeconomic profile of Shelburne residents will be determined using questionnaires and cancer registries.
2. Creating a biorepository and determine environmental exposures in Shelburne residents using biological samples to assess heavy metal and carcinogen levels.
3. Identifying genetic changes that may explain an ancestral cancer susceptibility using whole genomesequencing of saliva samples.
 
In January 2022, we conducted an on-site reconnaissance of the dump with Town of Shelburne staff in order to create a photographic record of anomalies such as leachate runoff, off gassing, and lack of cover final over deployed waste in cells. Retrieving historical information, photos and other paraphernalia from community members; Obtaining historical air-photos of the dump site and surrounding town; Field visits in the surrounding Shelburne community examining homes closest to the dump in terms of exposure potential, mapping house locations (GIS); Reviewing local archives; An historical review of local and Halifax print and online newspapers concerning the dump; andInternet and social media search of dump information, ethnographic thematic analysis of social media postings.
 
Our preliminary findings indicate that the dump operated from 1947 until 1996, when waste was diverted to an approved modern, engineered landfill in another community. The dump acted as a white metals transfer station and construction debris until it officially closed in 2016. The dump has no engineered features in terms of leachate collection and methane management and is located in a swamp, which has a high water table that can lead to the spreading of leachate offsite. No attempt has been made to monitor or remediate environmental contamination at the site. The historical review indicates the dump received waste from the national defence department (Navy), Roswell hospital, fisheries and timber industries, as well as municipal and household waste. The site contains a creek and is in a bog, hence the potential exists for the presence of carcinogenic materials through exposure pathways to surface water and groundwater as well as landfill gas.
 
Considering the analysis indicates there are industrial and hazardous materials in the site over and above local household “garbage,” the lack of modern landfill engineering contamination mitigation methods, and inappropriate location of the dump by modern environmental planning standards in a bog with surface water features extending off site, it appears that the Shelburne dump is potential sources of contaminant exposure to the local community.
 
Sources
Dalhousie School of Resource and Environmental Management. (2018)."Case B: Environmental Racism: Living Next to a Landfill in Shelburne N.S.” (unpublished).
C. E. DeSantis et al., Cancer statistics for African Americans, 2016: Progress and opportunities in reducing racial disparities. CA Cancer J Clin 66, 290-308.
S. Kisely, M. Terashima, D. Langille, A population-based analysis of the health experience of African Nova Scotians. Canadian Medical Association Journals 179, 653-657 (2008).
I. R. G. Waldron, Re-thinking waste: Mapping racial geographies of violence on the colonial landscape. Environmental Sociology (Special Issue: Environmental Justice & Deep Intersectionality) 4, 36-53 (2018).
Ingrid Waldron. 2018. There’s Something in The Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.