1910

 

 

In 1910, the families who lived in the wards within proximity to the steel industry were under the complete control of Stelco.  In May, the land developer W.D. Flatt applied to build the Brightside neighbourhood, which would be located directly adjacent to the pre-existing steel plants. Just weeks later, Stelco was established from the merging of several smaller waterfront manufacturers and gained the title of Canada's largest producer of steel.

 

The rate of death by disease became increasingly divided by the ward in which residents in the area lived.  The negative health impacts experienced by those living closest to the steel plants became more severe. The division of wards has since changed, but in 1910, Wards 1 and 2 were the most affluent, and Wards 5 and 6 fell within the closest proximity to city factories.  Wards 5 and 6 rates of death due to respiratory disease were recorded to be 395% larger than the rates in Ward 1. Similar trends were observed for rates of deaths due to cancer cancer which were recorded to being 303% larger in Ward 6 than recorded in Ward 1.​

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The Brightside neighbourhood was designed for the working class and allowed steel workers to be able to walk to and from work.  This development was greatly appreciated by the industrial workers as they could now not only afford their own properties, but were also able to form a community outside of Hamilton's downtown.  Joe Bartolacci, a local resident, wrote a reflection on growing up in Brightside which conveys this message. In a memoir, he writes:

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The Brightside residents were completely intertwined with Hamilton's Steel industry and this co-creation of a residential neighbourhood to support industrial growth was unique and existed as a practical necessity (Figure 1).  By the 1960s, this neighbourhood ceased to exist as the industrial sector expanded into that location.  While environmental and health metrics tracking the impact of having a residential neighbourhood so close to large-scale industries with highly toxic emissions were still few and far between, personal recollections and photographic evidence of smog looming over the homes are indicative that the air quality indices may have been poor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 1: Photograph taken sometime between the late 1920s and early 1930s which shows children standing on a road in the Brightside neighbourhood. In the background, industrial buildings belonging to Stelco can be seen producing smoke which fills the sky.

 

There is some documented evidence of environmentally hazardous procedures committed by companies in the industrial sector, including a record of the dumping of slag into the Sherman inlet of the Hamilton Harbour in 1910.  These actions were done intentionally to utilize the space and allow for the expansion of other manufacturers within the harbour. Slag is a byproduct that is produced in the purification process of various metals.  With regards to steel specifically, the slag from the blast furnace is ferrous and is composed of primarily calcium, silicon, and iron.  Over time, slag erodes and leaches chemicals into the surrounding soil and water. Additionally, the resulting change to the harbour morphology caused by slag dumping and other contributing factors would have significantly disrupted existing wildlife.  In years to come, reports confirmed this damage. For example, high concentrations of zinc, lead, iron, and manganese were reported to be present in Hamilton Harbour sediment in 1996.   While steel plant emissions and boat traffic would have also contributed to the presence of these toxins, it is without doubt that slag played a major role.