[getsmart-l] East Gwillimbury blocks proposed incinerator

[Janet May]

TOWN BLOCKS INCINERATOR 

 

 
<http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/yorkregion/homepage;tile=2;sz=300x250;ord='%
0d%0a+%20ord%20+%20'?> 

 

May 26, 2007 07:13 AM 

By: Serena Willoughby, Staff Writer

East Gwillimbury will not be a willing host for the proposed York-Durham
incinerator. 

Councillors voted unanimously Tuesday night to back a resolution opposing
the site. 

The document cites the property is within the provincially protected
greenbelt and adjacent to the Black River and states it would have a
negative impact on local air quality. 

"I was one of the first to recognize that this wasn't a good fit,"
Councillor Virginia Hackson said. "Wearing my hat as the chair of the (Lake
Simcoe) Conservation Authority, I took a look at the fact that the Black
River is there and it is in the greenbelt." 

The East Gwillimbury site, on Garfield Wright Drive, is one of five
pinpointed by the joint York-Durham study that recommends constructing a
facility to burn garbage. 

The remaining four sites are in Clarington, near Lake Ontario. 

Council carefully considered what residents were saying and the information
they were being given and found the incinerator didn't fit with the town's
main goals and objectives, Ms Hackson said. 

The resolution also considered the negative experience Newmarket has had
with Halton Recycling, particularly with odour and air quality. 

Although the proposed facility is to deal with garbage, not organics as
Halton does, Newmarket residents have had to endure a long battle with the
firm. 

Representatives of the group Communities First, which is opposing the
proposed incinerator, were at the East Gwillimbury meeting, ready to speak
out against the plan. 

But council passed the resolution at the beginning of the meeting to
applause from the gallery. 

Communities First spokes- person Ed Candolini was elated, saying the next
step is to get other municipalities to follow suit. 

"Newmarket's next, then Georgina," he said, noting the group will address
Newmarket council Monday. 

Mr. Candolini is challenging all municipalities in York Region to oppose the
incinerator. 

The group has started a petition on its website, www.communities first.ca,
which has been signed by 603 people. 

Since East Gwillimbury has only one vote on regional council -- Mayor Jamie
Young -- Tuesday's resolution is not enough to stop the incinerator from
being built. 

However, if East Gwillimbury is chosen as the site for the $250-million
facility, the land will have to be re-zoned by the town. 

Earlier this month, regional council met to discuss the progress being made
by the incinerator study team. 

Markham Councillor Erin Shapero made a deputation against the proposed
energy-from-waste facility, saying increased diversion will make it
unnecessary. 

She argued a "put or pay" clause in the contract for the proposed facility
will discourage residents from diverting waste. 

Put or pay means if the region doesn't produce a set amount of waste, it
will pay fines to the operators of the incinerator. 

"By making a commitment for 50,000 tonnes of waste a year, we'll be kissing
diversion goodbye," Councillor Shapero said. 

With Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill all using green box programs for
organic waste and the northern six scheduled to implement a similar program
in September, the region will be diverting more and, she argued, eliminating
the need for the incinerator. 

For more information on the proposed incinerator, go to
www.durhamyorkwaste.ca

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.web.net/archives/getsmart-l/attachments/20070531/cd567492/attachment.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/gif
Size: 43 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://list.web.net/archives/getsmart-l/attachments/20070531/cd567492/attachment.gif