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Worker exposed to arsenic at Giant Mine seeks compensation
Steve Petersen wants NWT Supreme Court to revisit decision

Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, December 4, 2015

SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A former Giant Mine worker who says he was poisoned after cleaning up an arsenic spill in 1988 without protective equipment has asked the territory's top court to look at whether the workers' safety board was wrong to not revist his injury claim from four years ago.

Steve Petersen wants NWT Supreme Court to rule a 2011 decision by the Workers Safety and Compensation Commission was unreasonable and wrong.

"I continue to suffer from the effects of my (Acute Transverse Myelitis) injury," Petersen states in a court document filed last month.

Acute Transverse Myelitis is an inflammation of the spinal cord.

In documents filed with the court, the WSCC states Petersen had time to appeal the 2011 decision, but didn't.

Kim Walker, a spokesperson for WSCC, wrote in an e-mail that the organization won't speak to individual

cases for privacy reasons and won't address the case because it is before the court.

Petersen worked at the mine's treatment plant for 19 years, according to court records.

On July 1, 1988, he was told to clean up a mixture of chemicals such as arsenic, lead, mercury and cyanide that had spilled.

He cleaned on and off for about six hours with only leather boots and jeans, according to the court documents.

After work he went to bed and awoke within hours with urination and mobility problems.

He went to hospital and was sent to Edmonton for tests. He was able to walk onto the plane but paralysis had become more severe and he couldn't walk off the plane.

A test at the time uncovered a toxic overdose of arsenic.

Petersen included a medical report produced in 2011 by Dr. Noel Kerin, an occupational medical consultant with the Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers Inc., that reviewed more recent research on the effects of exposure to arsenic and other toxins.

It details his medical history and concludes it is more than likely ongoing exposure from his employment at the mine and the added exposure from cleaning up the spill in 1988 caused his medical issues.

The effects include needing a cane to walk, bladder incontinence and decreased quality of life with ongoing pain.

His initial compensation claim in 1988 was denied because the Workers Compensation Board (as it was then called) couldn't see a link between the exposure and his injuries. It ruled his injuries were unrelated to his work.

He appealed the decision and in December 1997 an appeals tribunal upheld the original denial.

He requested the case be reheard but a December 2011 decision denied that request.

The medical report by Kerin was considered by the 2011 tribunal but it ruled there wasn't any new information for it to consider.

Petersen declined an interview on the case as it remains in court.

The case was set to return to court today.

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