Energy-From-Waste MEETING - MAY 9

Canadian Auto Workers Durham Regional Environment Council

Energy from Waste

A public forum to discuss the potential social, economic and environmental impacts of an
Energy from Waste Facility proposed for Durham Region.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007
CAW Local 222 Hall
1425 Phillip Murray Ave.
Oshawa, ON

Canadian Auto Workers Durham Regional Environment Council (CAW D.R.E.C.) will host a public discussion for the residents of Durham Region regarding the proposed Energy from Waste Facility. The community will gain information from speakers both “for” and “against” the facility. We are offering the public the opportunity to ask questions and stay informed. Information will include; health concerns, economic impact, employment, alternatives to fund proven sustainable waste alternatives and other concerns.

“Our council proudly represents more than 33,000 CAW members. They, together with all citizens of Durham Region, are entitled to a broader set of facts on Energy from Waste,” says Dave Renaud, President, CAW D.R.E.C. “We need to fully understand the negative or positive ramifications that the Energy from Waste facility will bring to our community in the long and short term.”

These concerns and others will be explored at the Pro & Con Debate.

Doors will open at 6:00 p.m. An expo representing interested and relevant organizations will be on hand.

Discussion will begin at 7:00 p.m. with confirmed “con” speakers:

Dr. Paul Connett, Cambridge University graduate, with a Ph.D. in chemistry and over 22 years of waste management research.
John Jackson, Program Director for Great Lakes United, an international citizen’s coalition dedicated to protecting and restoring the Great Lakes and over 25 years of experience working on waste issues.
Erin Shapero, Councillor, Ward 2 Markham, who continues to be a tireless advocate for environmental causes and the interests of her constituents.

A question and answer session will follow.

Representatives of the Regional Municipality of Durham have declined an invitation to participate in the forum due to the fact that they do not engage in panel discussions on any current projects. Representatives of Ontario’s Premier, Dalton McGuinty’s, Operations Office have not presently returned any of our calls or e-mails requesting their attendance. We are presently working to confirm a list of “pro” speakers.

For further information contact:
Dave Renaud
President, CAW D.R.E.C.
Tel: 905.404.1279
mailto:Keepitgreen@cawdrec.com
http://www.cawdrec.com/

Incineration of honesty, clarity, accountability?

We have been assured throughout this public information process (as late as last week) that a full Environmental Assessment (EA) would be done for this incineration project. Not an "Environmental Screening", but a full EA. The proposed environmental screening is a self-assessment process.

Today, at the Durham/York Joint Waste Management Group (JWMG) meeting at Durham Regional Headquarters at 1 pm, there will be a "Presentation of the Consultant's Recommendation Regarding Whether to Switch from the Full Environmental Assessment to the Environmental Screening Process".

Under the new rules, if a project was previously subject to an individual environmental assessment, and the proponent had submitted its EA or a terms of reference (the work plan for the EA), the proponent can switch to the environmental screening process instead of completing the review as an individual EA, but only within 60 days of the regulation coming into force. (The new regulation came into force on March 23, 2007).

So, what will be the recommendation of the consultants? To save time and money by switching to the ES instead of a full EA, despite assurances that this was not the case and would not happen? Will they choose the correct route and go with a full EA?

What on earth is this Provincial government thinking, especially in an election year? Do they really believe that loosening EA requirements actually is "Improving the Environmental Process"? Thermal facilities with 'energy from waste' component will now be exempted from the full EA and allowed to choose the 'screening' process instead. This type of facility is considered by the Province to "have predictable environmental effects that can be readily mitigated". Oh, really? All the while the consultants are telling us that they have not yet done the health studies, and medical journals tell us that there are no safe levels of dioxins or furans, which are both by-products of the combustion process of garbage and end up as part of the emissions from those lovely smoke stacks which rise up from the EFW (Energy From Waste) incinerators. Sorry, but those white puffs of smoke are not "just water vapour" as we have been told. We are assured that this incinerator, if built in Clarington, will emit only 'safe levels' of these chemicals (according to Provincial standards). Do you have confidence in Provincial Standards when the experts tell us there are no safe levels of certain toxins?

We will find out later today what the consultants recommendation will be, and what course our Regional representatives on the JWMG will decide to take. This JWMG meeting is open to the public so we hope some residents will attend. We will follow up on this for our readers.

JWMG Group meeting - Tuesday, April 24 - Regional Headquarters in Whitby, 1 pm - 3 pm. 605 Rossland Road East, Whitby, Meeting Room: LL-C

See today's JWMG meeting agenda.

UPDATE (April 24/07):
According to sources, a full Environmental Assessment will be done rather than an Environmental Screening. Kudos to the York/Durham Joint Committee and to the Consultants.
(more to come...)

Burning Questions

Our Clarington Council heard the "Energy from Waste" presentation last week in a closed meeting labelled as an "educational" training session, and this week we (the public) will be treated to an Energy from Waste presentation on Thursday evening and/or Saturday morning by the Durham/York Residual Waste Study Team.

We have a few problems with how this is all taking place. All the "public information sessions" so far as well as those planned for the future, so far as we know, are being held by the proponents of incineration. We want to hear the other side, not just from the proponents, the project management team. How about hearing the cons as well as the pros? And yes, there are many negatives to incineration.

• Incinerators are the largest single source of dioxin, a substance so toxic that it has no known threshold where it is no longer considered toxic.
• The fly ash from the incinerators is highly toxic and needs to be put in a secure landfill. Toxins can also leech into the water table and soil from these new "landfills" created to handle the residue after the burning process.
• Climate change is an big issue today, and incinerators emit substantial amounts of fossil carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, even with the new "scrubber" technology.
• What about the increased traffic, degradation of infrastructure due to increased truck traffic on the roads, concentrated within a small area just off Hwy 401 in Clarington?
• Increased truck traffic must also be addressed in relation to safety and children's soccer fields in the case of the Courtice location.
• Halifax and Edmonton are examples of communities using alternative approaches to manage waste that do not include incineration and that are achieving high diversion rates. We should be looking to better alternatives instead of jumping to incinerators, with their inherent problems.
• What happens if Clarington is not a "willing host"? Will we be forced to host the incinerator in one of the populated areas that have made the short list?

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle is still a much better solution than incineration, if it were taken more seriously. We must question the health implications and the potential for contamination of land, air and water, as well as livestock and food. We must also remember that waste disposal and health care costs go hand-in-hand.

We need to be progressive and put the responsibility back onto the manufacturer and the packaging they produce. We should make the manufacturers of packaging responsible for reducing their packaging and for collecting and recycling the remainder. Adding more pollution to the air and land by building an incinerator, especially so close to a populated area, makes no sense at all.

The next step is to attend one of the two scheduled public information sessions to be held in Clarington (both in Bowmanville). Then it will be time to ask more questions and to seek more information on the true benefits vs hazards of a waste incinerator. Hopefully we will find out which technology will be used, the costs to us as Clarington residents, and who will be responsible for the added costs re infrastructure. And the most important issues of safety and health concerns must be adequately addressed.

Public "Information" Sessions:

Thursday, April 12
Clarington Beech Centre, 26 Beech Street, Bowmanville, 7 - 9 pm

Saturday, April 14
Municipal Office, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, 9:30 - 11:30 am

For more information, including resident's comments, see:
http://claringtonwatchdog.blogspot.com/search/label/Incinerator

Lets hope we will be pleasantly surprised.

Elect The Chair effort not over

Good news for proponents of Bill 172, an Act to amend the Municipal Act, 2001 to Provide for the Direct Election of the Durham Regional Council chairman. It has now passed second reading, much to the delight of all those who want to see the practice of horse-trading and promises made within the confines of regional council who alone have the power to choose who sits in the highest (unelected) position within regional government.

Bill to elect Durham Region chairman passes second reading

Apr 5, 2007
By Erin Hatfield ehatfield@durhamregion.com

TORONTO -- A bill that would mean the direct election of Durham's Regional chairman passed second reading at Queen's Park today.

"The way many of the Liberals were speaking I thought they were going to whip it," said Oshawa MPP Jerry Ouellette minutes after the vote. "But, I went over, talked to the minister (of municipal affairs and housing) and he said they had free reign to vote how they wanted."

Bill 172, an Act to amend the Municipal Act, 2001 to Provide for the Direct Election of the Durham Regional Council chairman, was introduced by Mr. Ouellette in December 2006.

During the debate at Queen's Park Thursday morning, Mr. Ouellette said he tried to dispel concerns that a large municipality would control a direct election.

"In Waterloo the chair is a person from one of the small townships," he said. He also addressed concerns about the potential cost of running for the Region's top spot.

"I gave figures from last term which indicated that the most money spent was half of what we can spend as an MPP," he said.

Those who rose to support Mr. Ouellette's bill included Joyce Savoline, MPP for Burlington. Ms. Savoline previously served as the Halton Region chairwoman, the first time the top spot at an Ontario regional government was directly elected.

"When she spoke she tried to dispel a lot of the concerns," Mr. Ouellette said. "A lot of it is concern over party politics and she dispelled that."

Mr. Ouellette introduced the bill at Queen's Park on Dec. 12 after the results of a referendum question on the election ballots in Ajax, Pickering and Oshawa overwhelmingly supported direct election. At present, Durham Regional councillors choose the chairman.

On Feb. 14 Regional council voted 15 to 13 to endorse Bill 172 and Mr. Ouellette said that endorsement likely made a difference in the vote at Queen's Park.

"I just think this is a good way of moving forward in democracy," he said.

The bill has been referred to the general government committee, which gives municipalities an opportunity to voice concerns.

Of course our municipal government in Clarington has already sent a strongly worded letter to the Province declaring their "vehement" opposition to this bill. And they did this without bothering or even wanting to hear from residents on the issue. After repeated attempts at requesting a public meeting be held on the issue so the local residents can have their say, they are still being either flatly turned down or ignored. Remember that Clarington was one of the local municipalities within Durham Region who's residents were denied a chance to have their voices heard in a referendum. In the only 3 municipalities in Durham Region that did put it on the ballot, the public overwhelmingly supported direct election of the regional chair position. Overwhelmingly being approx. 85% of the public. That is pretty overwhelming. In spite of this, our council pushed forward their own agenda in saying that they opposed it, and have continued to deny residents of Clarington the opportunity to have their say.

But why should we be surprised at that? They made a big show of wanting resident's input on the Hospital funding issue, then totally ignored it. We believe they only made that "show" because of all the noise about their denying any input on direct election of the chair. We now wonder how much input residents of Clarington will have on the incinerator issue. If past performance is any indicator, we'll have about zero input. Or at least zero that will be actually considered by this we-know-better-than-you council.

At least we still have a chance at having Bill 172 pass and become law. Everyone should take the time to write, phone, or email their MPP as well as the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing and let them know how you feel about direct election of our regional chair. To contact the Minister:
Hon. John Gerretsen, Phone: 416-585-7000 Fax: 416-585-6470 Address: Hon. John Gerretsen, Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing
MINISTER'S OFFICE, 17th Flr
777 Bay St, Toronto ON M5G 2E5

or use their feedback page on the MMAH website at: http://www.mah.gov.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_11051_1.html

The few reasons given by our Councillors for so "vehemently" opposing this bill were lacking in fact. I hope those who have objections to their objection will write in with comments. For example, the $250,000 amount given as what would be needed for a campaign for regional chair is incorrect, and is an amount pulled out of the air. Did our council bother to check with those few elected regional chairs in Ontario? No, they obviously did not. Maybe it's time they did.

For more on the "Elect The Chair" topic see previous blog items, both discussion and comments.

Contact information for Clarington Council

Don't hesitate to contact Clarington Councillors or Mayor regarding issues that concern you. That is part of their job.

Mayor JIM ABERNETHY
mayor@clarington.net

Regional Councillor MARY NOVAK (Wards 1 & 2)
mnovak@clarington.net (H) 905-436-2583

Regional Councillor CHARLIE TRIM (Wards 3 & 4)
ctrim@clarington.net (H) 905-786-2403

Local Councillor ADRIAN FOSTER (Ward 1)
afoster@clarington.net (H) 905-404-8613

Councillor RON HOOPER (Ward 2)
rhooper@clarington.net (H) 905-623-3097

Councillor WILLIE WOO (Ward 3)
wwoo@clarington.net (H) 905-987-3388

Councillor GORD ROBINSON (Ward 4)
grobinson@clarington.net (H) 905-786-2970

Clerk's Department: clerks@clarington.net
905-623-7651

The Municipality of Clarington
40 Temperance StreetBowmanville, ON L1C 3A6
Telephone: 905-623-3379 (All Departments unless otherwise noted)
Toll Free: 800-563-1195

Contact information for MPPs & MPs for Durham Region

To contact any Durham Region MPPs regarding the "Elect the Chair" issue or to show your support for Bill 172 or other issues, contact information is below. Keep this information to use to contact your local MPP (for Clarington it is John O'Toole) regarding incineration, tranportation, or any other issues in the future.


***John O'Toole, Durham Riding, Progressive Conservative
Rm 207, North Wing, Legislative Building, Toronto ON M7A 1A8
Tel : 416-325-6745 Fax : 416-325-6255
Local office:
75 King St E, Bowmanville ON L1C 1N4
Tel : 905-697-1501 Fax : 905-697-1506 Toll Free : 1-800-661-2433
john_otooleco@ontla.ola.org

Jerry Ouellette, Oshawa Riding, Progressive Conservative
(author of Bill 172)
Rm 428, Main Legislative Building, Toronto ON M7A 1A8
Tel : 416-325-2147 Fax : 416-325-2169
Local office:
170 Athol St E, Oshawa ON L1H 1K1
Tel : 905-723-2411 Fax : 905-723-1054
jerry_ouelletteco@ontla.ola.org

Christine Elliott, Whitby-Ajax Riding, Progressive Conservative
Rm 430, Main Legislative Buidling, Toronto ON M7A 1A8
Tel : 416-325-1331 Fax : 416-325-1423
Local office:
101 - 114 Dundas St E, Whitby ON L1N 2H7
Tel : 905-430-1141 Fax : 905-430-1840
christine.elliott@pc.ola.org

Wayne Arthurs, Pickering-Ajax-Uxbridge Riding, Liberal
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance
Ministry of Finance
7 Queen's Park Cres, 7th Flr, Frost Bldg SouthToronto ON M7A 1Y7
Tel : 416-325-3581 Fax : 416-325-3453
warthurs.mpp@liberal.ola.org
Local office:
213 - 1550 Kingston Rd, Pickering ON L1V 1C3
Tel : 905-420-0829Fax : 905-420-5351
warthurs.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

**********************************

Durham Region MPs - our Federal representatives:

***Bev Oda, Durham Riding, Conservative (Clarington)
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women
Ottawa Address:
121 East Block , Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Phone: 613-992-2792
Fax: 613-992-2794
Email: mailto:OdaB@parl.gc.ca
Local Office:
Box 9, 68 King Street E., Unit 2, Bowmanville, ON L1C 3K8
Phone: 905-697-1699
Fax: 905-697-1678
Website: www.bevoda.ca/

Colin Carrie, Oshawa Riding, Conservative
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry
Ottawa Address:
House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 996-4756
Fax: (613) 992-1357
EMail: Carrie.C@parl.gc.ca
Local Office:
57 Simcoe Street South Unit 2B (Main Office), Oshawa, ON L1H 4G4
Telephone: (905) 440-4868
Fax: (905) 440-4872
Web Site: www.colincarriemp.ca/

Jim Flaherty, Whitby - Oshawa Riding, Conservative
Minister of Finance
Ottawa Address:
607 Confederation Building, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Phone: 613-992-6344
Fax: 613-992-8320
Email: mailto:flaherty.J@parl.gc.ca
Local Office:
204-701 Rossland Road East, Whitby, ON L1N 8Y9
Phone: 905-665-8182
Fax: 905-665-8124
Website: www.jimflaherty.com/

Mark Holland, Ajax-Pickering Riding, Liberal
Ottawa Address:
House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 995-8042
Fax: (613) 996-1289
EMail: Holland.M@parl.gc.ca
Local Office:
92 Church Street South, Suite 106, Ajax, ON L1S 6B4
Telephone: (905) 426-6808
Fax: (905) 426-9564
Web Site: www.markholland.ca/

Hospital funding request denied... sad but no surprise

Even though Clarington Council had the results of a telephone poll which told them that 74% of residents were in favour of the funding, along with multiple delegations requesting they approve the donation, our Council came up with what they feel are good excuses for NOT doing so. This decision was predicted here a few times, including in our March 16 blog.

We feel the biggest reason was that they didn't want to push our already altitudinous tax rate into double digits. But the small amount that would have been tacked on to property owners' bill would have been pretty inconsequential for most of us. On the "average" property tax bill, about $16 per year would have been added. That's less than a Timmies coffee and donut per month. Not per day, nor per week. But per MONTH. Yes there are people with multiple properties who would have to pay more, but if they hold multilple properties, they can probably afford to forego a couple of Timmies per month. Those with million dollar properties who would have to pay considerably more on their tax bill could also probably afford it.

What we cannot afford is to ignore our local hospital. This was a chance for our municipal government to get behind our local hospital. Yes, it is Provincial responsibility to fund hospitals in this province. But they are not doing it, and if we wait for them to give us that funding or raise the levels of money granted to Lakeridge Health to the average per capita across Ontario, we will have a long wait. That is the consensus of most residents in Durham Region, including Clarington. So do we cut off our nose to spite our face? Sure we can write to the Province, phone them, email them, but will Health Minister Smitherman listen to us? Should we expect him to listen to us any more than our local council does? Maybe now they can understand how it feels to be ignored. That is how many Clarington residents feel about this council on a variety of issues. They just don't listen to us. They may pretend to listen, but in the end, they are a brick wall.

I'm sure the Memorial Hospital Foundation will find a way to come up with the needed money. It may take longer, but they will do it. They have tremendous support throughout our community, even if Council is not part of that support. Contributing to improvements in our local hospital such as expanding the busy ER, increasing same-day surgery capacity, expanding mammography-related services and create a much needed Intensive Care Unit would have been a investment by our council, not a signal to the Province that they should give up provincial funding of our hospitals, especially since it is not by choice that they do so. They have no choice in the matter. That they underfund is another matter completely.

For more information see Metroland's article, "Municipality says 'No' to hospital's $2-million request". And don't hesitate to comment here on this blog or to let your local councillors know your feelings on it. As well, be sure to make a contribution to this worthy cause if you can. We should show our council what social conscience is all about.