Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2014-03-12, Page 44 Lucknow Sentinel • Wednesday, March 12, 2014 Lucknow Sentinel VOLUME 138 - ISSUE 00 PUBLISHED WEEKLY P.O. Box 400, 619 Campbell Street Lucknow Ontario NOG 2F10 phone: 519-528-2822 fax: 519-528-3529 www.lucknowsentinel.com SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company MARIE DAVID Publisher marie.david@sunmedia.ca JILLIAN UNDERWOOD Sales representative jillian.underwood@sunmedia.ca MARILYN MILTENBURG office administrator lucknow.sentinel@sunnnedia.ca Publications Mail Agreement No. 40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO SENTINEL CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT RO. Box 400 Lucknow ON NOG 2H0 For any non -deliveries or delivery concerns: 519-528-2822 • lucknow.sentinel@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTIONS Regular one year Senior one year Two year regular Senior two year $40.00 + $2.00 442.00 $35.00 +$1.75 = $36.75 $70.00 + 3.50 = $73.50 $60.00 + $3.00 = $63.00 Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. At advertising and editorial deadlines: Friday 2 p.m. Changes of address, orders for subscriptions, and undeliverable copies (return postage guaranteed) are to be sent to The Lucknow Sentinel at the address indicated here. Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the portion of the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, wit not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid at the applicable rates. The Sentinel is available on microfilm at GODERICH LIBRARY, (from 1875) 52 Montreal Street Goderich ON N7A 1M3 Goderichlibrary@huroncounty.ca KINCARDINE LIBRARY, (from 1875 to 1900 & 1935 to 1959) 727 Queen Street Kincardine ON N2Z 1Z9 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada, ,430cna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association www.lucknowsentinel.com Environmental issues struggle with complacency Sometimes I find it challeng- ing to write this column. It's often difficult to discuss envi- ronmental issues when it fre- quently seems that there is a general complacency about the subject, compounded by a seeming disregard on the part of the federal government with respect to environmental pro- tection and policy. The subject can get pretty disheartening. Then something good will happen that brightens my outlook. I recently had the pleasure of accompanying my daughter's grade six class to the Bluewater Outdoor Education Centre for a three-day residential program. The BOEC sits on 320 acres of land near Wiarton. It is an award-winning facility, founded in 1973, that provides approxi- mately 4,000 students per year with the opportunity to get out of their classrooms and receive hands-on instruction in both environmental and outdoor education. Outside of the formal curricu- lum the children also learn about conservation and a more sustainable life style through activities such as energy saving and waste reduction challenges. The kids love it. In fact, they thrive in this setting. One of the best parts of the experience for me was watching It's Not Easy Being Green Tracey Hinchberger the students excitedly rising to the challenges presented to them, whether it be learning a new skill such as snowshoeing or trying to win the "Stanley Pot" for zero food waste produced during the three day stay. Even over such a relatively short period of time a number of the kids pushed themselves out of their comfort zone and showed a completely different side. When their world is so full of technology it was wonderful to see these students flourishing in a setting with no television, com- puters or handheld devices, and rather than complaining they craved more. Children very clearly, when given the opportu- nity, want to be in an outdoor setting and want to learn about the natural world and their rela- tionship to it. We are fortunate in the Blue - water school district to have the BOEC. The site has excellent staff and facilities, with a new dining hall and dorms built in 2006 and three classrooms added in 2007. There is also a stone farm house on site that serves as a staff office and a hundred year old barn used for storage and presenta- tion of some of the programming. Despite all of this, there have been times during the BOEC's history when its future was uncertain. Most recently, in 2012 grant cuts from the province to the Bluewater District School Board resulted in the loss of two of the four Outdoor Education Special- ists who staff the facility and, as a result, a reduction in the night- time programming at the site. In 2004 the actual property of the BOEC passed to the charita- ble Bluewater Education Foun- dation, an arm's length, inde- pendent organization that works with the school board and com- munity to ensure the continua- tion of programs such as the BOEC. The foundation fund - raises on the BOEC's behalf and was responsible for the renewal program of the centre's facilities. The Bluewater District School Board is responsible for providing staffing and program- ming for the BOEC. While similar facilities have closed across the province due to funding issues the Bluewater district is privileged that through the cooperation of the Bluewater Education Foundation and the Bluewater District School Board the BOEC has been able to remain open, providing our chil- dren with first rate environmen- tal and outdoor education opportunities. It is opportunities such as these that help to foster a curios- ity, love and respect for the envi- ronment in our younger genera- tions. It is vital that these attitudes be developed in our young people and carried on into adulthood since this, in part, is how the overall attitudes of society towards preserving the environment will change. As a community we should value and recognize the impor- tance of this facility and do what- ever is necessary to ensure its continued success in the future. I know 26 very excited grade six students who would agree with this sentiment whole heartedly. You can find more informa- tion about the BOEC and the Bluewater Education Founda- tion at www. o e c. bwd sb. on. c a and www.bluewater-edfounda- tion.org letter to the editor Lucknow resident says NWMO open house "built to bamboozle" Dear Editor, "Designed to Deceive" is about the nicest thing I can say after attending the Nuclear Waste Management Organiza- tion's (NVVMO) Deep Geological Repository (DGR) Open House at the Lucknow Community Centre March 5-6. It was like attending a smok- ing information session by the tobacco industry that failed to mention lung cancer, emphy- sema or heart disease. Let me give you a few examples. 1. When I ask if there is infor- mation on the risk of radiation I am told that they don't have that literature* with them. It is being revised and reprinted. I can go on line to get a copy. BUT there is no place in the fancy literature displays announcing this. Funny thing, a year and a half ago at NWMO's dog and pony show in Ripley I asked the same question and was told they had "forgot- ten" to bring the information. 2. There was a neat little dis- play of some stones and a pair of salt and pepper shakers which you could rotate past a geiger counter and hear it clicking off radiation hits and see the scale. However there was no informa- tion about how this level of radi- oactivity compared with that of used fuel. There are also fancy photos showing the radiation associated with a variety of ordi- nary materials and activities in mSv (milliSieverts) but showing the highly radioactive fuel levels in becquerels (Bq). When I ask how to convert mSv's to Bq's none of the nine staff know the formula but agree this makes it hard to grasp how highly radio- active used fuel compares with their examples. Funny thing, a year and a half after I'd pointed out this prob- lem to the folks at the Ripley show they still haven't made their displays useful or even have a conversion formula available. Perhaps "Calculated to Con- fuse" would be how to describe this part of the display. 3. A brochure entitled "Multi- ple -Barrier System" says on its front page in Bold Print "Barrier 1: The Used Nuclear Fuel Pellet': Underneath is a photo of an ungloved human hand holding a pellet with tweezers in front of a pile of pellets in the back ground. When I point out to the staff that this can't be "used nuclear fuel pellets" since they would be way too hot, both radi- oactively and thermally, for a person to be unprotected he agrees that it is a misleading pic- ture and tells me the pamphlet is being reprinted and he thought that he had removed them from display. I'd pointed this out a year and a half ago. When I leave after touring the information and dis- plays I notice that the misleading material is still out available to continue misleading the public. It is misleading and dishonest to talk about radioactive fuel without being clearer about can- cer, genetic damage and birth defects. This is not a good start to a community information process that purports to be open and honest. When the sections I do under- stand are so obviously "Built to Bamboozle" it makes me very dubious of all the other claims of safety or the integrity of the process. I feel really uncomfortable being asked to trust these folks to bury this material beside the great lakes in the middle of some of Canada's best farm land. Tony McQuail Lucknow