Vice
Vice
@VICE·19.1M subscribers·4.4K videos

Canada's Toxic Chemical Valley (Part 2/2)

Posted

August 15, 2013

Views

154,819

Likes

1,801

Comments

764

Engagement

1.66%

Search the Record

Indexed

Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.

Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.

Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line

YouTube Description

as posted by the channel

Start from the beginning and watch part 1/2 here

The first thing you notice about Sarnia, Ontario, is the smell: a potent mix of gasoline, melting asphalt, and the occasional trace of rotten egg. Shortly after my arrival I already felt unpleasantly high and dizzy, like I wasn't getting enough air. Maybe this had something to do with the bouquet of smokestacks in the southern part of town that, all day every day, belch fumes and orange flares like something out of a Blade Runner-esque dystopia.

Sarnia is home to more than 60 refineries and chemical plants that produce gasoline, synthetic rubbers, and other materials that the world's industries require to create the commercial products we know and love. The city's most prominent and profitable attraction is an area about the size of 100 city blocks known as the Chemical Valley, where 40 percent of Canada's chemical industry can be found packed together like a noxious megalopolis. According to a 2011 report by the World Health Organization, Sarnia's air is the most polluted air in Canada. There are more toxic air pollutants billowing out of smokestacks here than in all of the provinces of New Brunswick or Manitoba.

Read the full article on VICE here

Check out the Best of VICE here

Subscribe to VICE here!

Check out our full video catalog

Videos, daily editorial and more

Like VICE on Facebook

Follow VICE on Twitter

Read our tumblr

Guests & Subjects Covered

Sarnia OntarioBlade Runner-esqueChemical ValleyWorld Health Organization Sarnia'sCanada ThereNew BrunswickManitoba ReadLike VICE

Sentinel Indexing in Progress

Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.

All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.