After decades of legal battles, residents of Shannon, Que., set to be compensated for contaminated water

Stephan Gurgurewicz, a self-described army brat who grew up at the Canadian Forces Valcartier Base, says he's glad to have some form of closure. 

His father was stationed at the base near Quebec City from 1976 until his retirement in 1980, when the family moved to the neighbouring town of Shannon. 

Both his parents died of cancer, his father in 2004, and his mother last January. 

"A lot of the older people passed away," Gurgurewicz, who went on to have his own military career and currently lives in Petawawa, Ont., said. "Some people here and there passed from old age, but I've seen a lot of those folks pass from cancer." 

In 1997, it was discovered that trichloroethylene (TCE), which is commonly used as a degreasing agent and is considered a carcinogen, had been leaching into the water system for decades at the Valcartier base. 

Three years later, it was also detected in the well water in nearby Shannon and public health told people to stop drinking it.

The chemical had been spilling since at least the 1950s, but some residents believe it goes as far back as the 1930s. 

In 2001, the Shannon Citizens' Committee was formed in an effort to find any available recourse for residents.

For more than a decade, the group was in and out of court with the federal government, trying to show a link between the industrial chemical and cancer rates in town, in the hopes of receiving compensation. 

Then, five years ago, an expert compiled epidemiological data from the regional health authority and concluded residents of Shannon were 249 times more likely than others to get cancer. 

Judges at the time ruled that while there may have been a scientific causal link between the TCE contamination and cancer, it did not meet the burden of proof required by the court, meaning the compensation offered was for the contamination itself, and not for any illnesses contracted as a result.

Now, some people who lived in Shannon, northwest of Quebec City, from April 1995 to June 2006, and who were exposed to TCE, have a year to apply for that compensation, bringing a two-decades-long legal battle to a close. 

The federal government and two private companies — Valcartier Real Estate Corporation and General Dynamics — were ordered to pay citizens who suffered damage from the contamination.

Eligible residents can receive a maximum of $64,000 for moral and punitive damages. 

Jean Bernier, one of the eight original founders of the citizens' committee, says he's glad residents of the town are finally able to apply for compensation. Still, he doesn't think it's enough.

More than 20 years after the citizens' committee was founded in response to the contamination, Bernier said he's given up hope that anyone will take responsibility and apologize but, at least, the money is coming. 

"I'm not happy, compared to what we were asking," Bernier said, explaining he'd hoped every resident of the town from 1953 until private wells were installed in the early 2000s would be eligible. 

Short of that, Bernier said he hopes the work he's put in — and the resulting settlement — will help prevent similar problems elsewhere. 

"Let's have the hope that it won't happen again," he said. 

Bernier has lived in Shannon since 1961, and said as a firefighter for 28 years and a medical first responder, he knew a lot of people who were sick with cancers and other diseases. 

"A lot of them suffered and died — some of us at the start, in 2001, that's why we founded the Shannon Citizens' Committee," he said, adding the group came from a desire to do something concrete and to push for accountability and awareness. 

"I feel bad for most of the people of Shannon who drank, washed and cooked, and breathed in the TCE vapours that will not get a penny," Bernier said. "But that's up to the judges." 

"I don't agree with it, I think there should have been a lot more people compensated," he also said. 

Bernier said it's important to remember money is not the same as justice, especially considering the number of people who got sick.  

One of the people who lived in the "red triangle" — where the TCE levels were found to be the highest — is Gurgurewicz. 

He said although he's had some health issues, he hasn't linked them to TCE. 

After his father died, his mother was involved with the rallies, meetings and other efforts to get some sort of settlement. 

Gurgurewicz said the money makes little difference to him, but that it's good to have a conclusion for the people who have been working toward this for 20 years, and who gave their "heart and soul to it." 

"It's a relief for people who need it," he said. "I look at it as a big victory."

Bernier said while the compensation news does offer some closure, there's still a lot to do. 

"It's not over," Bernier said. "We're in it for another good year of telling people who to go and see to get compensation, fill out the forms and all that."