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WAINFLEET WATER and SEWER COMMITTEE



OUR UPDATED EVENTS ,AFTER JULY 1 , 2005
ARTICLE FROM THE ST. CATHARINES STANDARD
HOW TRUE IT IS
JULY 4 , 2005
OUR FATE

KITS1


IN NIAGARA THIS WEEK
PUBLIC NOTICE
JULY 1 , 2005
ANYONE INTERESTED ?

PUBLIC


ARTICLE by BETTY KONC
JULY 1 , 2005
Here it is the Public Health's stance on Holding Tanks, as per the next issue of the Healthy Environment.

PUBLIC HEALTH'S POSITION ON HOLDING TANKS

The Public Health Department cannot support the widespread use of holding tanks to address the septic system problems that exist across the community in the Lakeshore area for the following reasons:
- Well documented experiences in other municipalities that resulted in failure to reduce or eliminate the health hazard.
- Odor impact and odor complaints which are irresolvable.
- The costs associated with enforcing holding tank maintenance.
- Demonstrated willful negligence on the part of the homeowners in Wainfleet and other communities who failed to properly maintain holding tanks thus perpetuating or worsening the conditions leading to ongoing well water contamination.
- Inevitable community stigmatization.
- Provincial legislation.
The Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing oversees the Ontario Building Code ( OBC). The intention of OBC is clear in regards to the use of holding tanks. Widespread use of holding tanks is not supported when other alternatives exist to replace defective private sewage disposal systems. A viable alternative solution does exist for the Lakeshore area, albeit on that at this stage is costly.
The use of holding tanks is considered a temporary alternative for sewage disposal, not a permanent one. An entire community serviced by holding tanks , with honey wagons patrolling the streets, is neither desirable nor feasible. The costs of effectively policing the use of holding tanks on a large scale make this option unsupportable and unsafe from the public health perspective. In addition, holding tanks are costly , both short-term and log-term, to the homeowner in terms of installation and ongoing maintenance.
In other communities where holding tanks are present, evidence indicates they are rarely properly maintained over time because of the costs associated with emptying them regularly and ensuring that they don't leak. It is the Public Health Department's view that holding tanks would replace one source of the problem ( leaking septic systems) with another.
In some individual cases , holding tanks have been permitted as a temporary solution, in the past and recently, to address emergency septic system problems, pending a permanent infrastructure solution. Those who have put them in place will be required to connect with any new water and wastewater system that results from the Environmental Assessment process.
The widespread use of holding tanks doesn't address the key problem for the lakeshore area residents: contaminated groundwater supply.

Put this on the Website and ask visitors to the site
"Has anybody has ever said that they don't want to visit them or come to the area because there are holding tanks present in the community.
They have stated that the costs are too expensive but the figures they have quoted are vastly inflated in comparison to actual figures quoted by a local contractor, is this another scare tactic by the Health Dept.?
It may find its way into the next Healthy Environment newsletter.



COPIED from "welland.niagaracommunitynewspapers.com" web site
Conservation Authority working on water protection
JOHN EDWARDS
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
The province is currently planning to introduce the Source Water Protection Act this fall,
which will be designed to protect Ontario’s drinking water.
To do this, the conservation authorities have received funding from the Ministry of the
Environment to do studies in preparation for the pending legislation.
The Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority is taking part in the program
with Brian Wright being the source water protection.
Wright says the first step of the plan is to gather existing information which will allow
them to do some analysis on watersheds in the Niagara Region. This information is a
follow-up to the Niagara Peninsula study and Niagara Water Quality Protection Agency that
were developed last year.
The second part, which is expect to take place later this year, will assess the risks facing
these watersheds and what the potential threats are. Wright says they “are trying to
determine how to keep watersheds in good condition.”
John Steele from Ministry of the Environment said the conservation authorities
will examine the watershed and determine what, if any, affect things such as farms,
landfill sites and auto wreckers will have on the water supply.
Wright feels this plan is long overdue and said other countries such as England,
Australia, Germany, India and the United States
have had similar plans in place,
or in the works, for several years.

COPIED from "www.dunnvillechronicle.com" web site
Monday, July 11, 2005

HALT takes dump fight to court
BY KAREN BEST/Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Local News - CAYUGA – An environmental group from the small town of Cayuga is determined
to stop a Mississauga landfill corporation and will mount a legal challenge on the Ontario
Ministry of the Environment approval for the dump.
According to Anne Vallentin of Haldimand Against Landfill Transfers, the group will apply
to the Ontario divisional court for a judicial review of the ministry’s entire
decision-making process surrounding the Edwards Landfill. The application will be filed
within a couple of weeks, she said this week.
HALT waited until the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) ruled on the group’s application
for leave to appeal a fill rate change before deciding to move forward with the divisional
court challenge.News of the tribunal’s decision to allow an appeal reached Vallentin by fax
on June 28.
The process involved going through with the appeal request first, said Vallentin.
Based on the tribunal chair’s decision, HALT can only work with the traffic issue on
Brooks Road, which runs in front of the dump near Cayuga. The group had asked the ERT for
a full, open public hearing on the landfill.
Six Nations of the Grand River Territory also asked for and received leave to appeal.
Both Six Nations and HALT filed notice that they will appeal. Through the divisional court challenge, HALT hopes to allow examination of broader
environmental concerns, including wetland habitat, abandoned gypsum mines and contamination.
The group hopes the entire appeal process will be explored in a public hearing.
Through this, the project will undergo the environmental scrutiny that it should have
received before any approvals for dump changes were granted by the ministry, states a group
press release.
Doug Robertson disagreed. A senior planner with Conestoga Rovers and Associates, he said
the leave to appeal was granted on only one aspect of the fill rate approval. “It relates to
the road period,” he stated. “The rest of the approval is valid.”
Haldimand Norfolk Sanitary Landfill can bring in 500 tonnes a day, but obviously this has
to be resolved first, continued Robertson. He was asked by Haldimand Norfolk Sanitary
Landfill co-owner Frank Campbell to respond to the Chronicle’s questions.
The company has ceased construction on the first garbage cell and on all other major works
because of litigation issues, Robertson continued.
Meanwhile HALT will continue working to inform the public and to raise money for its
legal costs. On Tuesday July 19 beginning at 7 p.m., the group will host a
public meeting featuring a presentation by HALT lawyer John Tidball.
He will speak about the appeal decision and outline next steps.
On July 9, HALT will begin selling tickets at the Cayuga LCBO for the CayugaFest duck race.
Haldimand Motors owner John Edelman has donated three TVs for race prizes.
Tickets will also be for sale at the park during the festival and at the parade.
All proceeds go to HALT, which was sponsored by the Dunnville Rotary Club.
During CayugaFest, the group will begin to sell tickets for Paulette Sloat’s quilt.
Entitled Naturally Haldimand, the queen size quilt features beautiful wildflower appliques
on golden beige cotton. The Cayuga Lions Club is sponsoring this venture.
HALT is considering assorted other fundraising activities which will be announced as plans
are completed. They’ll be fun and creative to balance the heaviness of this, promised Vallentin.
While disappointed with the narrow scope for an ERT appeal, Vallentin is calling this a major
victory. In the 20 years that HALT’s lawyer has worked on landfill issues, this is the first
time that he has seen one granted a leave to an appeal, she said. “It’s something we can be
proud of,” she added. Adding to the significance is the second appeal approval for
Six Nations.
Councilor Buck Sloat was surprised with the leave to appeal because none had been granted
recently. “Obviously we had solid grounds,” he said.
In allowing the appeal, the ERT director found that road suitability for landfill truck
traffic was unresolved in a certificate approval amendment. The amendment allowed
Haldimand Norfolk Sanitary Landfill to increase its daily fill rate from 10 to 500 tonnes
of commercial, institutional and industrial waste. The amendment also did not set a date for
a road study or upgrade completion.
A third point for appeal approval notes that the earlier decision on the increased fill rate
“could result in significant harm to the environment because of the increased rate of
generation of leachate and the potential for increasing the area of contaminant leakage”
in addition to increased truck traffic. When asked for an explanation of this last point, Mimi Gilbert of the environment ministry
could not offer one. “The decision by the Environmental Review Tribunal is under review by
the ministry and therefore we are not prepared to comment on it,” she said.
Because an environment ministry director approved the increased fill rate amendment,
the ministry is a party to HALT’s challenge. “We are reading and reviewing the decision
to understand it and to plan our next steps,” said Gilbert.
She was also unable to comment on the ERT finding that the Six Nations aboriginal rights
were a fundamental issue that should have been addressed prior to a decision on the increased
fill rate.
Vallentin said the leave to appeal holds up the 500 tonnes a day dumping increase.

PLEASE BE ADVISED ALSO , THAT OUR COMMITTEE HAS BEEN ACTIVE AND WILL NOTIFY PEOPLE OF A PUBLIC MEETING AND WILL TRY TO REACH ALL CONCERNED BY LETTER , EMAIL OR PERSONALLY !!


Mayor Gord Harry
PHONE: (905) 899-2625

EMAIL: gharry@township.wainfleet.on.ca

Alderman Evan Main
PHONE: (905) 899-2633 or (905) 899-1250
EMAIL: emain@township.wainfleet.on.ca

Alderman Patrick Robson
EMAIL: probson@township.wainfleet.on.ca

Alderwoman Barbara Henderson
PHONE: (905) 386-0977
EMAIL: bhenderson@township.wainfleet.on.ca


Alderman Rudy Warkentin
PHONE: (905) 899-1358
EMAIL: rwarkentin@township.wainfleet.on.ca



MPP -ERIE-LINCOLN
TIM HUDAK , MPP
PHONE: (905) 382-0322
FAX : (905) 382-0315
EMAIL: timhudak@niagara.net



MPP JOHN MALONEY
PHONE: (905) 788-2204
FAX : (905) 788-0071
EMAIL: malonj@parl.gc.ca



PROJECT MANAGER , Regional Niagara
BOB STEELE
EMAIL: bob.steele@regional.niagara.on.ca

 
They are listening and know we aren't going away!
Here's hoping for some changes to the problems .
 

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