Tainted bison meat the result of too many lead bullets

Claims by Chief Allan Adam that the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation was deliberately given tainted bison meat is “alarming (and) unfair.”

In a news release issued by the ACFN, Adam said, “Generating contaminated meat and offering it to the First Nations people is a cruel act of total disrespect to the dignity of the people of Fort Chipewyan.”

The release of Adam’s statement came following an investigation involving three levels of government, which determined the high concentration of lead in the ground bison meat given to Fort Chip members was due to slaughter techniques used by a company owned and operated by the neighbouring Fort McKay First Nation.

“I’m surprised that Chief Adam, in all due respect, would make such an alarming statement,” said Jeff Winsor, assistant band administrator with the Fort McKay First Nation.  “Ringing the alarm bell that there’s more at play here than what really exists is alarming.”

“Our bison herd is healthy and we take great pride in that,” said Alain Moore, spokesperson for Fort McMurray Syncrude, which owns the bison that were harvested and graze on the oil company’s reclaimed land.

The meat in question came from a harvest conducted in December 2009 of bison culled from the Syncrude herd, which is managed by Fort McKay Environmental Services, a member of the Fort McKay Group of Companies.

For the first time since the harvest has been conducted, Fort McKay gave bison meat to the Athabasca Chipewyan. ACFN requested that the meat be tested. The meat was tested at a private lab and found to be high in lead.

The samples were then taken to Alberta Agriculture for further testing.

Veterinarian Sandra Honour, head of the food safety branch of Alberta Agriculture, said the ground meat was found to have high levels of lead concentration but the solid meat did not.

Alberta Agriculture worked a joint investigation with Alberta Health Services, Alberta Health and Wellness, Health Canada, and Fort McKay First Nation. Test samples taken from 115 of the 300 bison herd proved that the remaining herd was healthy. The processing facility was inspected and passed.

“The most likely (source of lead) based on the scientific data collected was the bullets used to harvest the animal,” said Honour.

Honour explained that when bullets hit, they fragment. In this case, a bullet fragment, too small for the eye to see, made its way into the trim that was used from four harvested bison for this lot of ground meat. One particularly large bison took multiple gunshots to put down.

The ground meat tested at 100 parts per billion for lead concentration, which is the limit in meat for long term consumption.

Honour said Alberta Agriculture has offered its services to Fort McKay to help put protocol in place to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Changing from lead bullets to a more expensive solid copper bullet is one step that can be taken. As well, Alberta Agriculture can help establish a herd health program to reassure Fort McKay and Athabascan Chipewyan members that health isn’t an ongoing concern, as well as provide expertise on more hygienic slaughter techniques.

Winsor said he expects a new protocol  to be in place in time for the fall harvest.