Sludge Watch ==> Cement Kiln Incineration appeal- animal render, tires, trash - continues Thurs

[Maureen Reilly]

Waterkeeper.ca Weekly:
Thursday, October 25, 2007
www.waterkeeper.ca


Cement kiln incineration appeal continues Thursday

Thursday, October 25 2007 is "Issues Day" in a groundbreaking appeal of the 
Lafarge alternative fuels project. Clean Air Bath and counsel for the City 
of Kingston, Gordon Downie & Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, Lafarge, Loyalist 
Environmental Coalition, the Ministry of the Environment and The Tragically 
Hip will appear before the Environmental Review Tribunal Thursday morning.

Residents and environmental groups are appealing the Ministry of the 
Environment's approvals for Lafarge to burn garbage pellets, tires, bone 
meal, and other waste in its cement kiln in Bath, Ontario. Issues Day 
determines what issues the Environmental Review Tribunal will hear about 
during the appeals process.

The Ministry of the Environment never officially denied our second request 
for a hearing - it simply issued the licences to Lafarge hours before the 
winter holidays in December 2006. Many organizations asked the Environmental 
Review Tribunal for permission to appeal the licences. Clean Air Bath, 
Loyalist Environmental Coalition, Gord Downie & Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, 
and The Tragically Hip were successful.

Making it as far as Issues Day is a great success for the many citizens and 
professional environmental protection advocates who have dedicated years to 
this project. For the first time, science will take centre stage - lobbying, 
politicking, and public relations will no longer be the best way to 
influence decision-makers.

It was a long road to Issues Day. When Lafarge first asked to burn tires and 
other waste in its cement kiln in 2004, the Bath community objected and 
asked the province for an environmental assessment. The Ministry of the 
Environment denied their request. When Lafarge changed the project 
description and re-applied for air and waste disposal licences, Waterkeeper 
and others asked the Ministry of the Environment for a hearing.

Just days before the appeal was set to begin, Lafarge announced that it 
plans to challenge the Tribunal's decision in provincial court. For the time 
being, the appeal will continue while Lafarge's challenge makes its way 
through the courts.

For nearly four years, citizens struggled for a fair hearing process. We 
fought to get here because we truly believe this is the only process for 
figuring out what is true. That is, what the impacts on Bath's air and water 
truly will be and what steps must be taken to ensure the community is 
protected.

A hearing, by its very nature, is designed to get at the truth. Sworn 
testimony means that every witness must pledge to tell the truth. All 
evidence is cross-examined and undergoes the highest level of scrutiny and 
analysis. Experts testify, so rhetoric and zealousness are limited. There is 
full disclosure, so all relevant information is shared. And the hearings are 
public. Anyone can attend. Everyone can learn. The information considered by 
the decision-makers is seen by all.

This truth makes us better environmental protection professionals. It makes 
the residents of Bath and Lafarge better neighbours. It makes the Ministry 
of the Environment a better regulator. And it allows the Tribunal to be a 
wise decision-maker. This is an exciting time.

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Lake Ontario Waterkeeper came to the defence of hearings in another process 
this week. In our comment on the Ministry of the Environment's new 
environmental assessment policies, we asked that the list of reasons to deny 
hearings be removed because they unfairly discourage public participation in 
environmental assessments.


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