Mr. Speaker, the national pollutant release inventory revealed that in 1997 the pollutants released in Ontario totalled 62,000 tonnes, of which 8,000 tonnes of industrial chemicals were flushed into sewers.
In Ontario, industries put five times more chemical waste into the sewer systems than all the other provinces and territories combined. In 1997, industries in Ontario released 6,000 tonnes of cancer causing industrial waste, of which approximately 81% ended up in the air, 18% in landfills and 1% in water. These figures are incomplete because resource extraction industries are not required to report in the inventory, and not every pollutant must be reported.
How long will it take for the Ontario government to realize it has a role to play in preventing pollution and protecting public health?