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Letter: Ditch dive leaves dog coated in coal dust

Editor: Re: Convertible occupants get lungs filled with coal dust, letter to the editor, Aug.
dog
Indy was pictured after coming out of the ditch that runs alongside 27B Avenue and Salish Sea Drive.

Editor:

Re: Convertible occupants get lungs filled with coal dust, letter to the editor, Aug. 8

I’ve been holding onto this photo for a little less than a year when a recent letter printed in your paper sparked me to remember why I had been saving it.

The letter by Genevieve Cragg reminded me that coal dust is a serious issue, not only here in Delta, but anywhere within kilometres of a track carrying the carcinogen. Please find attached a photo of my dog, Indy, after coming out of the ditch that runs alongside 27B Avenue and Salish Sea Drive. There is no adjustment to this photo. These ditches are filled with coal dust.

How or why these rail cars do not need a preventative coating or cover over top of them flabbergasts me. It is a documented health hazard. And it’s in our air, our waterways and our farmland.

Worse yet, we live in one of the only remaining (and partially intact) migration routes for thousands of waterfowl, not to forget the “lungs” of the Lower Mainland, Burns Bog.

Like one of those empathy-evoking ads by a leading dish soap company, I did have to use a load of dish soap to wash my dog clear of the tattooed-on soot, right down to his skin.

It’s there. It’s everywhere. We need to be smarter about things we already know can have deadly consequences.

Cory Ziebarth