Sludge Watch ==> The Voice of Pelham - paper sludge fighters

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.thevoiceofpelham.ca/

Here are some great pictures of picketers in Pelham.  They are protesting the huge mountains of papermill sludge from Abitibi Thorold mill mixed with excess roadway soils.

..........................................................

            RESIDENTS hold up a truck leaving 325 Church Street during protests Monday morning about the dumping of 'sludge' on the rural property. 
            Sarah Murrell/VOICE Photo 
     

     
            Residents protest dumping of bio-solids  

            "The Ministry of the Environment is responsible for protecting clean and safe air, land and water to ensure healthy communities, ecological protection and sustainable development for present and future generations of Ontarians." 
            So reads the first few lines of the Ministry of the Environment's (MOE) web page. 
            But residents protesting the dumping of paper fibre bio-solids (PFB) in Fenwick are wondering if the MOE is mandated to protect water, land and eco systems, why does a loophole in legislation allow the PFBs to be dumped without any environmental controls? 
            Several weeks ago tractor-trailers full of PFB, the waste leftover after paper recycling, started appearing at 325 Church Street, just off Weber Road, dumping up to 30 truckloads of the material each day to build a 'sound-berm'. The foul smell of the material and the possible risks to the environment have residents of the area very concerned. 
            Randy Desnoyers says at this point, the focus is not on the trucking company bringing in the material or even the landowner's right to dump the sludge on his land. 
            "The focus is that the MOE needs to step up to the plate and close the loopholes," said Desnoyers. 
            Currently, PFB, or sound-sorb as it is called when mixed with soil, is exempt from Ontario's waste management regulation. As an exempt material sound-sorb has not been subject to MOE control. Under the regulatory exemption the material could, legally, contain municipal, hazardous or liquid industrial waste. 
            That exemption is what concerns the residents, who are wondering "what is in this stuff?", said Carolyn Botari, who says the scariest part is that because of the exemption, they don't know what is actually in the material. 
            Desnoyers said some people believe the material is safe, even good for crops, but he says studies show the only crop that benefits from PFB is soy beans, and the environmental risks far outweigh the benefits. 
            Desnoyers and about three dozen residents set up a protest at 325 Church St. Monday morning, demonstrating their concern over the practice of hauling the bio-solids to rural properties throughout the province, a practice Desnoyers says is far more prevalent than most people realize. 
            The residents were picketing the entrance to the property, holding up trucks entering and leaving the site for about 10 minutes. Desnoyers said the group was conducting the protest according to the law, and were trying to make their protest as peaceful as possible. 
            While the protesters can't legally stop the trucks from entering the property, on Monday morning Desnoyers said it appeared the number of loads being dumped had been drastically reduced. 
            On Monday, Erie-Lincoln MPP Tim Hudak sent a letter to Environment Minister Laurel Broten calling for an investigation into the issue. 
            Niagara Centre MPP Peter Kormos raised the issue in the provincial legislature Monday as well, asking Broten if she will intervene immediately to stop the dumping of paper sludge in Pelham and immediately require monitoring of the dumpsite. 
            While Kormos pointed out a recommendation from an expert panel report on a similar berm built in Oshawa that suggests PFBs be "controlled by certificates of approval or legal instruments that provide equal or better protection for human health and the environment" has resulted in no action by the Ministry, Broten said the recommendation was for monitoring of ground water and that is exactly what the Ministry is doing. 
            From Queen's Park on Tuesday morning, Kormos told The VOICE that both he and Hudak are "very, very frustrated" with a Minister who is so Toronto focused she doesn't understand small town Ontario. 
            "It seems to me the Minister has no real idea what is going on in her Ministry," said Kormos, noting the Liberals have "abandoned" small communities across the province especially when their own experts recommend "at the very least" certificates of approval for the sludge dump sites. 
            Kormos also said the issue clearly demonstrates a government that is disorganized when it comes to protecting the environment, referencing new clean water legislation that will see municipalities forced to spend millions to ensure clean drinking water while on the other hand the province "turns a blind eye" to dangerous waste dumped on farm land adjacent to waterways. 
            Kormos, while noting there is just a week left in this sitting of the legislature, said he will continue to pressure the government, and suggested residents "get angry and stay mad." 
            A handful of residents met with the region and MOE, as well as Pelham's Mayor Ron Leavens, the owner of 325 Church St. and the trucking company Monday afternoon. 
            The meeting was closed to the press, however, Leavens did say it was an excellent meeting and all of the facts were presented. The group met a second time Tuesday, after The VOICE had gone to press, but Leavens said he was hopeful that meeting would result in a final resolution to the issue. 
            In the meantime, the mayor said he continues to have concerns about the issue, saying "we don't have a good handle on the long-term implications of using the material."  
     
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.web.net/archives/sludgewatch-l/attachments/20060617/4d6abfb9/attachment.htm