About

What is Chemical Valley?

Chemical Valley is the nickname for an industrial region of Sarnia, Ontario that contains an unusually high quantity of petrochemical factories, contaminating the air and nearby environment. Sarnia shares a border with Michigan and is located off the southern tip of Lake Huron, just 100 kilometres west of London.

Sarnia, Ontario and its outskirts are home to roughly 40% of Canada’s petrochemical industry, all of which is contained in an area of only 25 kilometres squared.

The skyline is littered with the smokestacks of 60 petrochemical plants and oil refineries that are responsible for producing and refining compounds in product such as gasoline, plastics, pesticides, fertilizers and cosmetics.

The city was once a great pride for Canadians, symbolizing growth and economic success, but has since become infamous due to its high disease rates as a result of chemical exposure.

Who is Most at Risk?

The air quality in Chemical Valley has been described in the past as the worst in Canada.

People living in the area complain of smells of gasoline, asphalt and rotten eggs, with the air quality being so poor that it occasionally results in cancelled school days.

Various disease rates are higher in the area as well, including leukaemia and mesothelioma, with people who work in the plants being most at risk.

See how an asbestos victim brought these issues to light –>

Blayne Kinart, a Sarnia millwright who died in 2004, is shown in a photograph by Louie Palu

Another group of people who are at especially high risk of developing toxicity-related diseases are those living in the Aamjiwnaang First Nations reserve. The reserve is located just south of Sarnia, and is sandwiched between petrochemical plants from all sides. Any chemical spills that may occur can therefore pose serious threats to the residents’ wellbeing, and their chronic exposure to concentrated chemicals in the air can also contribute to a wide variety of ailments.

Residents of Aamjiwnaang stand next to a sign in front of a Shell oil refinery

The following is a list of companies that are currently operating in Chemical Valley, within 5 kilometres from the Aamjiwnaang reserve:

Shell Canada
Suncor Energy
Imperial Oil (Esso)
Lanxess Inc.
NOVA Chemicals
Dow Canada

History of Aamjiwnaang First Nations

Prior to the 18th century, before colonizers had invaded the majority of Canada, the Aamjiwnaang First Nations occupied all of the land between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. This land is now known as the southern tip of Ontario and upper Michigan.

They had a population of over 15,000 people spread across nine main villages, and lived on hundreds of thousands of acres which they could make use of freely.

Beginning midway through the 1700s, the Aamjiwnaang people began to have their freedoms impeded upon.

Invasion of the area by the British (who referred to the Aamjiwnaang as “Chippewa”) and the French (who called them “Ojibwe”) resulted in many wars and the introduction of smallpox and cholera.

This led to a drastic decrease in the Aamjiwnaang population. By 1827, there were only 440 Aamjiwnaang people left in Ontario and 275 left in Michigan.

Furthermore, treaties and overtakings of land had reduced their territory to 25,000 acres. At least one of these land encroachments was proven to be illegal but no compensation or apology has ever been given to the community.

Learn more about Aamjiwnaang history

Aamjiwnaang First Nations Today

In the tens of decades that followed 1827, there were multiple more treaty signings and expropriations of native land by the Europeans, ultimately reducing the Aamjiwnaang’s territory to a single reserve of just over 3,000 acres.

The population of indigenous people living on this reserve today is about 850, although there is a total of roughly 2,000 Aamjiwnaang people remaining (though many live off-reserve). As mentioned, the modern-day Aamjiwnaang reserve is surrounded on all sides by the massive chemical plants of Chemical Valley.

A representation of what Aamjiwnaang territory might have looked like before colonization vs. its current state.

A documentary exploring life in the Chemical Valley, especially with regard to indigenous perspectives

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