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YOUR LAND, YOUR WATER, YOUR CONCERN Welcome to the first edition of the CPBV newsletter! We hope that in months to come, this little grass-roots publication will help keep CPBV members and concerned citizens informed about the happenings surrounding Bonnechere Valley Township's proposed Ruby Dump "Expansion" (actually, a brand-new dump.) The Township has hired a consultant to write public relations press releases about the advantages of the new Ruby dump. This newsletter is an effort by concerned local property owners to cut through some of the hype and ask essential questions about efforts to minimize damage to our land and our water. We also hope to explore some alternate, "greener" solutions to waste disposal over the next several years. WHY WE'RE WORRIED AND WHY YOU SHOULD BE... The Township of Bonnechere Valley plans to purchase 80 acres behind the current Ruby Road waste transfer site and turn it into a landfill for all the Township's garbage. |
We are worried, because of unanswered
questions about the effect on the land — your land. We
need to know about the potential harmful
effects of a large new landfill such as :
We think that an old-fashioned landfill poses a threat, not only to local wells and to property values in the area — but potentially to Golden Lake. The goal of our organization is to encourage a shift to a better, safer solution than just a hole in the ground. IF IT LOOKS LIKE A DUMP, IT WILL LEAK LIKE A DUMP... The Township, through its agent Cambium Engineering of Peterborough, is claiming that this is to be a "modern" landfill. What does that mean? According to the Ministry of the Environment's web page regarding landfills : |
"Moisture and water can filter through
the [garbage], picking up metals,
minerals, organic chemicals, bacteria,
viruses and other toxic materials. This
contaminated water is called leachate. If
the leachate is not contained, it can travel
from the site and contaminate our ground
and surface water.
Modern landfills are engineered to meet
strict rules and standards to collect and
treat leachate."
So, is the Township planning to capture and treat leachate — the poisons leaking into the ground and water? Well, no. They have stated that they don't plan to do this at all. So we don't know how it can be claimed that this is anything other than the old-fashioned "hole in the ground." John Desbiens, president of Cambium, has admitted that there will be a leachate plume, but there are no current plans to deal with it other than letting the Ruby environment handle it as best it can. We think the public must ask if Council is aware of the Ministry of the Environment's Clean Water Act, which requires municipalities to develop plans to protect source water. |
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TRASH TALK : HAZARDOUS MATERIALS One way to reduce the potential harmful effects of a landfill is to ensure that nothing dangerous gets into the landfill – no cadmium from batteries, no arsenic from electronics and treated lumber, no formaldehyde from plywood, no mercury from light bulbs.
So we’d like to know how the Township is planning to keep such substances out of its new landfill. In modern landfills, all garbage is inspected for hazardous substances before it’s dumped in the ground. As far as we know, the Township doesn’t have any plans to do such inspection. They want us to trust that it won’t happen. When the future of Golden Lake and the Bonnechere Watershed is at stake, we think this is too big a risk. SIZE MATTERS In Cambium’s public relations material, The Township states that it only needs seven and a half acres for the landfill. Yet they plan to buy 80 acres. They say this is only for protection. But if the landfill is as safe as they claim, why do they need so much of a buffer zone? They also claim that "it would be very shortsighted" to take additional waste from outside the Township in future. Yet who’s to say that a future Town Council won't be tempted to get themselves extra money by selling off space, so that Ruby becomes a dumping ground for larger towns and cities? If they only need seven acres for 25 years, then there’s a lot of space left over. And a lot of places would love to ship their garbage to someone else’s front door. |
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR : SHORTSIGHTEDNESS OR WHITEWASH? "It seems that Bonnechere Valley council will, once more, miss the boat! First time, was not joining the group at Laurentian Valley (OVWRC) a few years ago. Reason: 'It was too expensive.' Now we (the taxpayers) have to purchase or lease land (this is not clear yet) so that we can make another 'Sand Road Landfill.' We all know the condition [the Sand Road landfill] is in. The cost of joining OVWRC has increased dramatically, so we get the usual 'It's too expensive' again. The door is still open but our council seems a little misguided and is balking again. When the landfills have leachate and they do, they need to be cleaned up at great cost. Are the citizens of Bonnechere Valley ready to dig even deeper into their pockets to pay for this? Did the council even ask what the citizens thought about this possibility? I don't think they did. Or is this whole project a case of consultants (Cambium) whitewashing Townships into thinking that this is the way to go? It is old fashioned technology : burying garbage and covering it daily, in a big hole. This proposed site is 7½ acres. The land it will be on, the other 72½ will be worthless as it has a GARBAGE DUMP IN THE MIDDLE OF IT! You may be able to disguise it with grass and shrubs but it’s under there for sure! So whoever owns it will be solely responsible for any clean up that is necessary. Are you ready for that?" TBV taxpayer
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UPCOMING EVENTS Thanks to the urging of our group, there will be an additional public consultation to allow summer residents to have a say on this issue. The meeting will be held at the Legion field in Eganville on Saturday, July 26th at noon. If you have any concerns or questions about the proposed new dump, you owe it to yourself to attend. NEXT ISSUE Coming up in our June newsletter, we will be examining some of the "greener" solutions our township is rejecting. |
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