Teck-Cominco probes contamination at Trail plant
Date: 30-Aug-01
Country: CANADA
The company said the workers were doing maintenance work this month on the furnace area of the currently idled smelting facility when they began complaining of flu-like symptoms. Tests later found traces of thallium, a chemical by-product of smelting, in their urine.
Teck-Cominco suspended the maintenance project on Friday when the illnesses were linked to thallium. High level exposure to the toxin can cause nerve problems such as numbness in fingers and toes, and can be fatal.
"We have carried out this type of work in the past with no reported incidents and therefor we were taken by surprise by these (test) results," Teck-Cominco said in a statement.
The Trail facility in southern British Columbia is currently idled to allow the company to sell the electricity it would normally use to the United States.
The company said the 65 workers, who were employed by an unnamed U.S. repair contractor, had experienced varying degrees of thallium exposure and it was asking other employees who might have suffered contamination to undergo tests.