Canadian Occupational Safety: How entire community was affected by ‘invisible disease’

“Peterborough has a 40 per cent higher rate of mesothelioma compared to the provincial average (mesothelioma is a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos).

“I personally never connected the dots because I figured I was safe. [But] we have a lot of long latency illnesses coming out of that plant.”

The sheer number of people getting ill and dying was enough to spark concern among the local community. Despite this, compensation claims were being turned down, with exposures described as anecdotal.”