Chronic Failure Podcast

This episode is about how life for people of the Grassy Narrows First Nation was left in tatters following the discharge of almost 1 ton of mercury into the waters that make up their ancestral territory. What followed was a fight for justice that persists to this day.

Episode Source Material

The Warrior Society Rises: how a mercury spill in Canada inspired a movement by Robert Jago

How the water of Grassy Narrows were poisoned by John Michael McGrath

Minamata Disease. An Unusual Neurological Disease caused by Contaminated Fish by Douglas McAlpine and Shukuro Araki

The interwoven history of mercury poisoning in Ontario and Japan by Adam Mosa and Jacalyn Duffin

Indigenous Peoples’ Vulnerability Exposed: Lessons Learnt from Canada’s Minamata Incident: An Environmental Historical Analysis of Environmental Policy Formulation and Implementation based on the Case Study of Methyl-mercury Pollution in Northwestern Onta by Anne McDonald

Children of the poisoned river by Jody Porter

A new study adds to body of proof connecting mercury poisoning to health issues in Grassy Narrows by Jasmina Katabay

Mercury Contamination of Fish in Northwestern Ontario by Norvald Fimreite and Lincoln M. Reynolds

Mercury exposure and premature mortality in the Grassy Narrows First Nation community: a retrospective longitudinal study Aline Philibert, Myriam Fillion and Donna Mergler

Chief says mercury still leaking from mill near Grassy Narrows by Paola Loriggio

Ontario knew about Grassy Narrows mercury site for decades, but kept it a secret by David Bruser

For the people of Fukushima Prefecture, time stopped at 2:46pm on March 11th, 2011. This was the moment that the Tōhoku earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1, rocked the coastal region. This was the largest earthquake to ever hit Japan, and the fourth largest earthquake the world has ever known since modern record-keeping began in the 1900s. A little less than an hour after the earthquake hit an ensuing tsunami unleashed waves – some up to 133 ft. tall – in a blind fury upon the mainland. The earthquake and ensuing tsunami also damaged the reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in one the worst nuclear disasters the world has ever known.

Episode Source Material

A decade after the Fukushima accident: Radiation-linked increases in cancer rates not expected to be seen by UNSCEAR

The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster - Epidemic of Ghosts by Kyle Hill

Fukushima: The nuclear disaster that shook the world by BBC News

The 20 largest recorded earthquakes in history by Livescience

Earthquakes by the United States Geological Survey

Researchers estimate total energy and local impact of the 2011 Japan tsunami by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)

The Fukushima-Daiichi Accident by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Fukushima Fallout: Nuclear business makes people pay and suffer by Greenpeace

Why Fukushima Was Preventable by James M. Acton and Mark Hibbs

This May Be the Biggest Threat from Fukushima – And It’s Still Ongoing by Justin Worland

Fukushima, Mental Health and Suicide by Masaharu Maeda, Misari Oe, Evelyn Bromet, Seiji Yasumura and

Psychosocial effects of the Fukushima disaster and current tasks: Differences between natural and nuclear disasters by Masaharu Maeda, Misari Oe and Yuriko Suzuki

Fukushima in review: A complex disaster, a disastrous response by Yoichi Funabashi and Kay Kitazawa

The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Pacific Earthquake and the seismic damage to the NPPs by Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES)

Agent Orange is one of a class of color-coded herbicides called “The Rainbow Herbicides”. Used in Vietnam, as well as in Laos and Cambodia near the Vietnam border as part of "Operation Ranch Hand," a herbicidal warfare program. The use of Agent Orange had a devastating impact that lingered long after the war ended.

Episode Source Material

What Is Agent Orange? What Types of Cancer Does It Cause? by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Agent Orange/Dioxin History by The Aspen Institute, This horrible natural experiment by Judith Perera and Andy Thomas, Agent Orange’s Long Legacy, for Vietnam and Veterans by Clyde Haberman

Why Hasn’t the Government Learnt Anything from The Agent Orange Health Crisis? by Scott Beauchamp, The Bases of Accommodation by Samuel P. Huntington, Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam by Nick Turse, Agent Orange and its associated dioxin: assessment of a controversy by A.L. Young and G.M Reggiani, What We Know about Agent Orange and Veterans’ Health by Michael Gough, Veterans and Agent Orange: Health Effects of Herbicides Used in Vietnam by Institute of Medicine (IOM) US Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides, Make Agent Orange History by Agent Orange Record, Understanding Agent Orange: History, Impacts, and Environmental Justice by David M. Kuchta

Long-term health impact of Agent Orange: Evidence from the Vietnam War by D.T Le, T.M Pham, and S. Polachek, Agent Orange: Haft-Century Effects On The Vietnamese Wildlife Have Been Ignored by K.N Truong and K.V Dinh, Long-Term Fate of Agent Orange and Dioxin TCDD Contaminated Soils and Sediments in Vietnam Hotspots by Kenneth Olson and Lois Wright Morton

Cottage Grove, Minnesota. A wholesome and fitting name for a city on the frontline of the American Dream. Today, it is known as ground zero for a chemical disaster whose tendrils have extended well beyond the United States. In this episode, I examine the price of innovation, and how a cluster of cities in the American Midwest fought back - and won - against a corporate Goliath.

Episode Source Material

PFAs in the east metropolitan area: keeping our drinking water safe by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)

For 50 Years, Polluters Knew PFAS Chemicals Were Dangerous but Hid Risks from Public by Environmental Working Group (EWG)

Cancer-linked Chemicals Manufactured by 3M Are Turning Up in Drinking Water by Tiffany Kary and Christopher Cannon

Damage to Minnesota’s Natural Resources Resulting from 3M’s Disposal of PFCs in Washington County, MN by David L. Sunding

A Century of Innovation: The 3M Story by W. James McNerney Jr.

Our Groundwater Connection by Washington County Public Health and Environment

Timeline of 3M History by 3M

PFAs Master List of PFA Substances by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

New rules for PFAS chemicals in Canada & U.S. by Gloria Anastasopoulos

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) by the EPA

Toxic Timeline: A brief history of PFAS by The Santa Fe New Mexican

Ninety-day subacute rat toxicity study by EI Goldenthal, DC Jessup, RG Geil, and JS Mehring

Delayed discovery, dissemination, and decisions on intervention in environmental health: a case study on immunotoxicity of perfluorinated alkylate substances by Philipe Grandjean

Toxic: 3M knew its chemicals were harmful decades ago, but didn’t tell the public, government by Deena Winter

After six decades, oil exploration has made the Niger Delta of of the most polluted places on earth. Damages have been done to farmland, forests, mangroves, and the economy.

Episode Source Material

Niger decries slow cleanups, decades after oil spills by Ekpali Saint

A critical review of oil spills in the Niger Delta aquatic environment: causes, impacts, and bioremediation assessment by Ikhumetse AA, Abioye OP, Ijah UJJ and Bankole MT

Nigerian Oil and the Disappearing Money by Sarah Gathmann

In the Niger Delta, decades of environmental disaster, by Femi Oke

Niger Delta negligence by Amnesty International

Niger oil spills bring poverty, low crop yields to farmers by Arinze Chijoke

‘This place used to be green’: the brutal impact of oil in the Niger Delta by Rebecca Ratcliffe

Niger Delta Oil Spills: Shell Ruled Responsible in Landmark Verdict by David Vetter

The human health implications of crude oil spills in the Niger Delta, Nigeria: An interpretation of published studies by Best Ordinioha and Seiyefa Brisibe

Evaluation of the Impacts of Oil Spill Disaster on Communities and Its Influence on Restiveness in Niger Delta, Nigeria by Oshienemen Albert, Dilanthi Amaratunga, and Richard P. Haigh

Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it by John Vidal

Oil Spillage and Heavy Metals Toxicity Risk in the Niger Delta, Nigeria by Enegide Chinedu and Chukwuma Kelechukwu Chukwuemeka

Analysis of oil pipeline failures in the oil and gas industries in the Niger delta area of Nigeria by Achebe, Nneke, and Anisiji

Oil pollution and agricultural productivity in the Niger Delta of Nigeria by Joseph Akpokodje Sheu Salau

Effects of oil spills on fish production in the Niger Delta by Osuagwu, Eze and Olaifa, Eseoghene

Double standard Shell practices in Nigeria compared with international standards to prevent and control pipeline oil spills and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill by Richard Steiner

Gas flaring in Nigeria: a human rights, environmental and economic monstrosity by Asume Osuaka and Peter Roderick

An assessment of high-risk sexual behaviour and HIV transmission among migrant oil workers in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria by CA Nwauche and CI Akani

Harnessing plants and microbes to tackle environmental pollution by Gege Li

Social valuation of mangroves in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria by Godstime K. James, Jimmy O. Adegoke, Sylvester Osagie, Saba Ekechukwu, Peter Nwilo and Joseph Akinyede

Gas Flaring in the Niger Delta Harming Health, Climate and Environment by Justice Nwafor

The Nigerian woman cleaning up a land soaked in oil by Georgina Rannard

This episode explores the the rise and fall of the infamous pesticide known as DDT. We discuss the environmental and human health impacts of the chemical along with its lasting effects.

The following is a list of the resources used in researching this topic.

https://www.epa.gov/ingredients-used-pesticide-products/ddt-brief-history-and-status

https://www.britannica.com/science/DDT

https://www.wenderoth.com/cases/patent-for-ddt-yields-success/

https://www.americanheritage.com/deadly-dust-unhappy-history-ddt

https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/january-2022/widespread-use-ddt-malaria-control-worries-environmentalist

https://vtuhr.org/articles/10.21061/vtuhr.v1i0.5/

https://www.acsh.org/news/2016/02/11/how-poisonous-is-ddt

https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/beyond-silent-spring-an-alternate-history-of-ddt

https://www.epa.gov/archive/epa/aboutepa/ddt-regulatory-history-brief-survey-1975.html

https://www.unep.org/explore-topics/chemicals-waste/what-we-do/persistent-organic-pollutants/alternatives-ddt

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2003.09.002

JAMA Neurol. 2014;71(3):284-290. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2013.6030

https://doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-20-1456

latimes.com/projects/la-coast-ddt-dumping-ground/

This is the podcasts trailer.