McIntyre Powder Project

IN THEIR OWN WORDS… A CONVERSATION WITH THE McINTYRE POWDER PROJECT MINERS

The McIntyre Powder Project miners will be featured in an international online (Zoom) event on Sept 8, 2022. They will be speaking about life underground, inhaling McIntyre Powder, the “light duty program” that sent injured workers back to work or paid them to stay home to avoid filing compensation claims, concerns with the radiation dosimeter and chest x-ray monitoring programs, and more!

ALL ARE WELCOME TO REGISTER for this event and listen to the stories of these mine workers.  This is a rare opportunity to hear miners speak about their working conditions, life underground, and what it was like for them to inhale McIntyre Powder aluminum dust.

TO REGISTER: Click on the “Sept 8 Zoom” link under the “Links” tab of the McIntyre Powder Project website and follow the instructions to order a ticket for the event from Eventbrite.

NOTE: The Sept 8th session is being recorded. Anyone who registers for the event will receive an email link to a copy of the recording once it is available, following the event.

IMPORTANT!! We invite any McIntyre Powder-exposed miner or worker to join in with the McIntyre Powder Project, New Solutions Journal staff and your fellow miners to speak, comment, or share your story during the online event. In addition to registering with Eventbrite, you will also need to contact Janice Martell (McIntyre Powder Project founder) ahead of time, so that we can send you a speaker’s Zoom link.  Please contact Janice at 1-800-461-7120 or by email at: minersinfo@yahoo.ca  Help is available if you don’t know how to use Zoom or how to register.  Contact Janice for assistance.

Event Details: 

DATE:  Thursday, September 8, 2022

LENGTH:  This is a 90-minute (1.5 hours) session, with 60 minutes of conversation, and then 30 minutes of Questions & Answers from the audience.  This is an international event, so the start time will vary depending on your time zone (check list below).

START TIME: 1 p.m. Eastern (eastern and northern Ontario, New York, etc.)

Check your time zone for start times. Some examples are below. 

10 a.m. Pacific (British Columbia, California, etc.)

11 a.m. Mountain (Edmonton, Alberta)

11 a.m. Central Standard Time (Regina, Saskatchewan)

12 p.m. Central Daylight Savings Time (Kenora, ON, Winnipeg, Manitoba)

2:00 p.m. Atlantic 

2:30 p.m. Newfoundland

COST:  Donation-based. [FREE for McIntyre Powder Project mine workers]. Donations are in US dollars and the suggested donation is $20.  

[Donations will cover the cost of the event, allow affected miners to attend at no cost, and the remaining proceeds will be used by New Solutions Journal to fund open access fees for their "Voices" articles so that other workers' voices around the world are heard.]

HOW TO REGISTER: 

1.    Click on the Eventbrite link (see “Sept 8 Zoom” under “Links” on this website) and follow the instructions on screen to register.

2.    You will be sent a confirmation email from Eventbrite that you are registered, with a link to join the event on Sept 8th.

3.    This will allow you to watch and listen to the Sept 8th event on your computer/tablet. It will not allow you to speak at the event (see step 4 below), although you can type in questions or comments in the “Chat” feature of Zoom during the event.

4. In order to be able to speak at the event, McIntyre Powder Project miners and mine workers need to contact Janice Martell to confirm that they want to be able to participate in the conversation. You will be sent a Zoom "speaker's link" for the event. We are also holding a practice Zoom session on Friday, August 12, 2022 at 1 p.m. (Eastern time) for the miners to get familiar with Zoom and meet your fellow mine workers who will be taking part in the Sept 8th discussion.

Photo: miners await McIntyre Powder aluminum inhalation "treatment" on the man deck at Campbell Red Lake Gold Mine in April 1966 before the cage transports them underground (photo courtesy of Hugh & Enid Carlson)

 

Life Underground was seldom spoken of by the miners, electricians, mechanics, and others who spent their working life below surface, even to their own families. 

Rare Insight into this world is now captured in the article "Breathe Deep, Boys: Voices of the McIntyre Powder Project miners", which was published in New Solutions Journal in February 2022.  

Read about what the miners experienced with McIntyre Powder inhalation, working conditions, incentives against making workers' compensation claims, the "light duty" program, and more.  

"Mining is the most unfriendly and unforgiving environment. They sent us in to do these jobs, knowing full well that we coudn't do them safe. You were climibing down hanging rods of shaft with three or four hundred feet of nothing below you." 

Find "Breathe Deep, Boys!" under the "LINKS" section of this website. 

HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE McINTYRE POWDER PROJECT INTAKE CLINICS

HOW TO REGISTER: Call Janice Martell at 1-800-461-7120

NOTE from Janice:  Due to my employment hours (which support my family and fund the work of the McIntyre Powder Project), on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., you will reach my voice mail.  If you reach my voice mail at any other time, I am likely helping other mine workers or their survivors with the pre-registration process.  Please leave a voice mail message, including your name and phone number, and I will call you back as soon as I am able to, OR please try calling me at another time.   Thank you so much! 

WHO CAN REGISTER?   

ALL mine workers (miners, electricians, mechanics, millwrights, crusher house & mill workers, etc.) or other workers (e.g. Ministry of Labour mine inspectors) who were exposed to McIntyre Powder aluminum dust at ANY mine (not just McIntyre mine) can still register with OHCOW (Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers) to be part of this study on the health effects of aluminum dust.

DECEASED MINE WORKERS:  Deceased mine workers who were exposed to the aluminum dust can be registered by their next-of-kin (some legal documents may need to be provided).

INCAPACITATED MINE WORKERS: Incapacitated mine workers who were exposed to the aluminum dust can be registered by their guardian/caregivers (e.g. whoever has Power of Attorney).

WHAT WILL REGISTERING DO? 

Registering will open a file for the mine worker at OHCOW (Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers), and will add the worker's story to the overall picture of the types of health issues suffered by workers who were exposed to aluminum dust.

** For more information about OHCOW’s role at the McIntyre Powder Project Intake Clinics, see the June 10, 2016 “News” posting on this website titled:  “OHCOW Statement on McIntyre Powder Intake Clinics”.**

 

Details on the Next McIntyre Powder Project Intake Clinic:

WHEN?  Monday, October 3, 2016 and Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Clinic Hours:  8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

WHERE?  United Steelworkers Hall, 66 Brady Street, Sudbury, Ontario

OPSEU Bus - The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) has generously sponsored a coach bus on both days of the Sudbury Intake Clinics.  The bus will leave from AJ Bus Lines lot in Blind River, Ontario at 8 a.m. sharp and will pick up Intake Clinic participants at the Lester B. Pearson Civic Centre parking lot in Elliot Lake, Ontario for 9 a.m. departure to Sudbury. The bus will stop at Tim Horton's restaurant in Sudbury at approximately 11 a.m. for a meal break (at your own cost - you are also welcome to pack a lunch).  The bus is expected to arrive by 12 noon or before at the Steelworkers Hall in Sudbury for the Intake Clinic.  The bus will leave the Steelworkers Hall for the return trip at 4 p.m. sharp.  Thanks to OPSEU Provincial office, OPSEU Region 6 office, and OPSEU Local 604 in Elliot Lake, coach bus transportation will be provided FREE to Intake Clinic participants  and their support persons.  RESERVED SEATING ONLY ON THE BUS.  To Reserve your seat on the OPSEU bus, call Janice Martell at 1-800-461-7120 to pre-register for the Sudbury Intake Clinic.  Please notify Janice that you require a seat on the OPSEU bus when you pre-register for the Sudbury Intake Clinic.  Thank you!

 

QUESTIONS? 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT JANICE MARTELL AT 1-800-461-7120.