Did our Regional Council really investigate anything other than landfill vs incineration? How much did they really learn, other than what they were fed by proponents of incineration? Why didn't most of them bother to attend the May 9 Public Forum on Incineration hosted by the CAW in Oshawa, giving "The Other Side of the Story"?
We were given some "facts" in the Durham Works newsletter we all received in our mailboxes this week. One of the most disturbing statements made, however, other than the spin put on the emissions information, was this one:
"This exiting project has met with an overwhelming approval from most Durham residents..."
Whaaaaat? Where did they get that statistic from? Any of the polls I've seen including the Rogers TV poll, in newspapers or anywhere else have been overwhelmingly against this incineration project, and especially among Clarington residents.We also heard the consultants tell Regional Councillors and the York/Durham Joint Waste Committee (most of whom never bothered to attend any of the Public information sessions - at least the ones held in Durham) - that there was little opposition to the incinerator project. That was pure fantasy. I'm not sure what's in their water, but it's more than a bit of chlorine!
People are quite upset that the Region decided on incineration... oh, excuse me... "Thermal Waste Treatment", or "Energy From Waste" - both euphemisms for burning garbage in an incinerator - that they decided on this with little input from the public. They say they held consultation sessions with the residents of Durham Region, but that was after they had already made the decision to go with incineration. They've done this all bassackwards from the start. Even now they are choosing a "host community" before they choose which technology they will employ. They are choosing a host community before even doing emissions investigations for this type of incinerator (because they don't know which type they will choose yet). They have chosen a populated area for the incinerator without considering the contributions to smog and the cancer-causing dioxin and furan emissions, among other things. They didn't even LOOK for a better alternative.
How about some REAL facts?
Incineration:
- Very expensive. Money leaves the community once the facility is built. It takes 25 years to pay for the investment, by which time it must be refurbished or decommissioned and a new one built.
- Needs a constant supply of waste. That's right - we'll need to produce enough garbage to fill the hungry beast to keep it running, 24/7.
- The toxic ash produced from burning toxic plastics and other materials requires a "permanent" landfill, similar to that required for storing spent nuclear waste.
- After 25 years of operation you are no closer to sustainability than you were when you started.
- Avoidables (throwaway plastic objects)
- Reusables (furniture, appliances - give to Goodwill and other charities, for example)
- Toxics (paint, oil, batteries, etc).
- Compostables (food scraps, some papers)
- Recyclables (paper, glass, metals)
Residuals - what's left that has to be disposed of because of "bad industrial design)
Rather than a honking big incinerator, what we need instead is a souped up recycling program along with a Residual Screening and Research Facility plus Landfill for stabilized organics plus non-recyclables. These are:
Much safer and cheaper, and the money stays in the community.
- Flexible - does not need a constant waste stream.
- Landfill use decreases with better industrial design
- Moving towards sustainability.
So, there we have it - a better alternative. Was this even considered? If so, why not choose the "better way"? If not, why not?
Next time we'll talk about some of the extremely harmful emissions. Remember that those incinerators in Europe are burning different materials than ours will be burning. They don't burn the same harmful plastics or other materials so they have a cleaner burn. Even so, they still have harmful emissions. This stuff is not nearly as clean as we are being told.
The important thing is that to effect change - Experts may sharpen the point, but you need the hammer of public opinion to drive the nail home. Let's get active and vocal on this. It is OUR health. Our taxes. Our garbage. Let's use the better solution, like Markham is doing. But we have to make our views known to our local politicians.
Contact your Clarington Council including the Mayor.
Contact Durham Regional Councillors.
Contact your Durham MPPs.
Let them know how you feel.
Hey folks, reading about this garbage being forced down our throats and shaking our heads isn't going to solve the problem.
ReplyDeleteYou need to write to your MPP's and to the leaders in other Durham municipalities. It is unfortunate that here in Clarington, we have no leaders. We have a lame-duck Mayor and two Regional Councillors being led around by Roger Anderson like puppies on a leash. There are 4 other Clarington Councillors, but so far, they have been mute on this issue - what are they doing?
Are you not offended that your tax money was spent to publish this "Durham Works" rag (more material to be recycled (or burned) telling you how the majority of residents support this incinerator - that in itself is garbage! If you don't write and let these people know how you feel you can blame yourself in the future for what they are about to inflict on us.
I see in the header to this blog site you point out the fact that the next municipal election is in November 2010. While that's (unfortunately) a long way off, it's not too soon to start a wish list of some of the garbage you need to get rid of here in Clarington!
ReplyDeleteWith any luck, perhaps by then we'll also have a chance (like in most free societies) to elect our Regional Chair. Having an elected Chair would solve many of our most serious problems, and having a Mayor who put his constituents ahead of his ego would solve the rest.
Recovery of resources (recycling, reusing, etc.) is what we should be concentrating on. It makes so much more sense than putting more pollutants into the air and ground with incineration. Energy from Waste? Nice way to make burning garbage look better. The amount of energy being used takes up the amount of energy produced. Besides, what about the huge energy producer right next door - Darlington Nuclear plant? Let's put a little flea next to a huge bear. That makes no sense either.
ReplyDeleteWhere is this "overwhelming approval from Durham residents"? That is a flat our lie. Does our Region actually believe that? How many of them showed up at the 3 "public propaganda sessions" or the May 9 CAW public forum? Not many. Those who did would have heard all the questions, all the negativity from residents. Not a NIMBY response, but a genuine concern for the health hazards associated with incineration of our "residuals" - the waste that is not reused or recycled. That nasty stuff that will be burned right here in Durham Region. Right in Courtice! In a populated area. How smart is that?
ReplyDeleteWhat about the emissions being so close to Lake Ontario, where we get our drinking water, fish, swim? What about the emissions getting into our livestock, fruit, vegetables. Like nuclear waste, it just builds and builds and builds and becomes more concentrated. It doesn't disappear. There is a cumulative effect that is not even being considered.
ReplyDeleteSomeone had better start considering it.
Clarington is the receptacle for all the things nobody else wants. We have Darlington Nuclear, St. Mary's Cement with blasting, dust... we have the new sewage treatment plant, we are in line to get the waste incinerator. Whatever happened to our "accessible waterfront"? It's being eaten up by garbage, sewage, toxic waste. While the rest of the municipalities are cleaning up their waterfronts and making them more accessible, we are making Clarington's closed and toxic.
ReplyDeleteThe bad side is being covered up and the good (less landfill) is being promoted. That's Rubbish at it's finest. We still need to send the toxic ash to special toxic landfill sites, we'll be contributing more to smog locally and we already have enough of that. We'll be spewing toxic emissions such as deadly dioxins and furans into the air. Yes, google dioxins and furans. I dare you. I'm talking to you, our politicians!
"The hammer of public opinion" - how perfect an analogy. Do our regional councillors really believe that there is little opposition or that it is not valid opposition? They had better wake up and smell the roses (instead of the garbage). They had better start to listen to their residents. They may think 2010 is a long way off (next municipal election) but with an incinerator staring us all in the face by that time, there is no way anyone will forget, nor will we forget the heavy handed way they forced it through.
ReplyDeleteAs others have suggested, they need to look at BETTER options. They do exist.
I am not sure whether or not an incinerator is the best option to dispose of trash, but there is one thing that is constantly left out of this debate; reducing packaging at the source.
ReplyDeleteThis solid plastic wrap that increases the size of the product on a shelf is a huge contributor to our problem. It is non-biodegradable, non-recyclable and takes up a ton of space. Everything you buy these days seems to have way more packaging than is required. For example, why can I buy some pain medication just in a bottle, while others have a cardboard box and a bottle? It is all about maximizing the visual space on a shelf at the store.
Make it illegal to have any packaging that is deemed to be excessive, and much of our waste problem would go away. Take this harmful products out of the system and maybe the incinerators will burn clean and efficiently. When will this element become part of the ongoing discussions?
The "public consultation" process in Durham Region is a farce. The Public Information Sessions have been from the start a sham. Even those held last year were not to "consult" the public on which option would be best. They were a propaganda exercise telling us how wonderful incineration is, with no negatives. We were told landfill was the only other choice - either in Ontario or shipping it elsewhere. And we were told how terrible both those options are.
ReplyDeleteWe were never given the option of enhanced waste diversion, returning residuals back to manufacturers, or any of the other more sane, better options that are still available to us.
They (our politicians) had already made up their minds. Why? Who is benefitting from this course of action. Take a closer look and find that out. It certainly is not the taxpayers, the children, the economy, our health care system.
Who did Abernethy go to Tampa with, to see the incinerator? Did he go with others from the region? Who paid for it? Who paid for all fo them? Who will pay for them to go to Europe next? Why Tampa? Why not Rochester? Why not Brampton?
ReplyDeleteToo many questions, too few answers.
The word on the street is that Clarington Mayor Abernethy went to Florida to look at incinerators and took Regional Chair Roger Anderson and Regional Councillor Rick Johnson with him.
ReplyDeleteAbernethy is so 'in bed' with Anderson that this sounded more like a honeymoon!
How come there were no councillors from York? Guess that once again the writing is on the wall. This incinerator is going in Clarington!
If the people of Clarington, and indeed, Durham don't speak and speak loud, you're going to get this monster right on your doorstep.
Where are the rest of Clarington councillors - how come we're not hearing from any of them.... (other than Anderson puppets like Trim and Novak)...the silence is deafening. When will we hear from Robinson, Woo, Foster and Hooper? C'mon boys, we'd like to hear your opinions.
Well, Billy B., is your question answered? You wanted to hear from the 4 local councillors. At Clarington GPA committee last Tuesday, our 4 councillors supported a great staff report that recommends that Clarington should review all documents and studies from Durham Region to make sure we get a fair deal. Our Mayor and Regional Councillors did not get their own way on this one,and bow to the Region once again. Let's here a round of applause for our local councillors who seem to be the only representatives who appear to care.
ReplyDelete