By Nora O’Malley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ha-Shilth-Sa Nearly three and a half months after roughly 7,500 litres of diesel oil seeped into the marine environment near Tahsis on the west coast of Vancouver Island, closures for shellfish harvesting are still in place. The Nuchatlaht First Nation’s council has advised people not to eat any shellfish from local waters after a recent testing of Pacific oysters indicated the presence of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs). Cancer-causing PAHs are formed during the incomplete burning of materials like coal, oil, gas, wood and charbroiled meat. “I want to protect First Nations health around here,” said Roger Dunlop, a biologist and Nuchatlaht’s Lands and Natural Resources manager. “The oysters had the highest levels of PAHs. They were well beyond what people should consume. Other…
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