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Clinton News Record, 2014-07-02, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, July 2, 2014 www.clintonnewsrecord.com Celebrating rural life in Huron County Patrick Nagle Rural Business Network It started out as an ordi- nary day. As usual, in the early morning I took my dog out to a nearby conservation area to drink in the country air and wildlife. I enjoy this routine and like to keep a sharp eye to report home on any unusual sightings I find in my home area in Huron County. These times are often rewarding. Just last week I happened to come across four bald eagles, in a distant field one which was feeding on some unfortunate creature. Per- haps they were migrating, or perhaps they intend to stay, I don't know. Undoubtedly many other cars had driven by the site and not noticed, so I was grateful to have been looking in the right place that day. Sometimes we take our living space for granted. As I drove along a gravel road back to town, something caught my eye that I often took for granted. I had passed other vehicles along the way, three in total, and each time I did, the occupant gave me a friendly nod or wave. While I have no idea who any of them were, I smiled with the thought we rural folk share a common bond of friendliness to stran- gers. At this point I felt I should take note of what I have to be grateful for. As the day progressed I went to town to do some business, and then ducked into the kind of fast food out- let you could find in any of our cities. Yet this was some- how different. As I took my order from the front counter, I was approached by a nice young man. He opened his hand and showed me a two dollar coin he said he just found on the floor. "Was it mine?" I was a bit startled with the unexpected ques- tion. No it was not mine as I had paid with my debit card. There was no one else in the restaurant at the time so I looked at him and said "I think that is for you': I guess I could have said more, but I found myself pondering the wonder of that question. Oh sure, honest people are eve- rywhere, but somehow in rural Canada it seems more the norm. As evening fell, I found myself in another restaurant where I was picking up a take out treat to bring home. As I waited for my order, I noticed a young family man who was on his cell phone, and seemed a bit distressed. He too had come for a pick up order and it seemed he could not pay for it because his credit card was rejected. After telephoning his wife, the man informed the res- taurant owner that his card had expired, and his wife had the replacement card at home. Since the restaurant did not have a debit machine, he said he would slip out to the bank and pick Footprints to forests —new tree planting initiative MVCA The MVCA is pleased to be partnering with the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority and the County of Huron on the launch of a carbon compensation pro- gram for watershed resi- dents. A carbon calculator tool will enable you to quickly and easily determine your carbon footprint. Carbon footprint calcula- tions measure the amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted as a result of your daily activities. When you drive your car to the store, run the dishwater in your home or travel on vacation, you cause the burning of fossil fuels, which provides the energy needed to power your lifestyle. The Carbon Footprints to Forests program will give you an opportunity to counter- balance your annual GHG emissions by planting trees in your watershed. Trees help to reduce the impacts of climate change and also provide benefits such as biodiversity and improved water quality. Donations to the Carbon Footprints to Forests program will be used to plant trees in the Maitland Valley and Ausable Bayfield watersheds. Charitable tax receipts will be issued for all donations received. The staff and Directors at the Maitland Valley Conser- vation Authority have already made personal com- mitments to the Carbon Footprints to Forests pro- gram. Starting in 2014, a por- tion of the mileage costs from the MVCA motor pool will be set aside for tree planting on MVCA lands. Staff will be kick starting the letters to the editor Citizens concerned about cement dust from K2 Wind Project To the Edttor Access laneways are now being constructed in the K2 Wind pro- ject area in Ashfield Colborne Wawanosh (ACW) for the proposed 140 turbines. Cement dust is being used in the construction of these laneways. It has been noted that large amounts of cement dust are blowing around during this construction. It is also blow- ing onto neighbouring properties. This cement dust is toxic to plants to which it adheres and is not good for people or animals. The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has confirmed that they consider it a contaminant and that they will be monitoring and investigating complaints regarding the transmission of this dust onto neighbouring properties in the K2 Wind project area. If there is construction close to your property, and you believe K2 is using the cement construction method, you may want to take action. It is recommended that you take pictures of the dust blowing in the wind and pictures of where it is landing. If you can collect samples of the dust from your property they can be provided to the MOE. You can call Mr. Scott Gass at the MOE office in Owen Sound at 519-371-4409 or 1-800-265-3783, Exten- sion 4277. Mr. Gass is now aware of the cement dust situation and will investigate. Again take pictures. You will know if they are using this method if there are large LAIDLAW transport trucks. They carry the cement dust to the construction site. There will also be a large piece of equipment, which looks like a grinder. This is used to mix the cement dust into the soil and cre- ate a hard base for the laneway. I spoke with K2 Wind recently about an access laneway near my property. They were planning to use cement dust. I voiced my objection. As a result, they will not be using cement dust on the laneway beside my farm. You may also want to monitor the situation if K2 Wind is pumping water from a turbine site. Keep records and take pic- tures if possible. Record the day, the amount of time pumping was going on and where K2 was pumping the water to. They do have a limit to the amount of water they can pump each day across the turbine project. If there is a piece of equipment at the turbine site which looks like a small generator on wheels it is more than likely to be a water pump. Remember; if possible, take lots of pictures or videos of what is happening. Unknown but huge volumes of water have been pumped off the K2 Wind substation/switchyard site over the past six months, unknown quantities of ground water to be pumped at turbine base sites and toxic cement dust. Any thinking person can see the irony here. George Alton On behalf of concerned citizens in Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh up some cash. "Not to worry said the restaurant owner, come back tomorrow to pay." "No..." said the young man, "...I will be right back". I guess what warmed my heart was the restaurant owner's insistence that the embar- rassed young man not leave the restaurant without his food, even though it was not paid for. We have much to be grate- ful for. Wide open spaces, good services and friendly neighbours. Most of all though, we have an intangi- ble quality of life we call rural lifestyle! program by planting trees at George Taylor Conservation Area in April 2014. Visit www.footprintstofor- ests.com to calculate your footprint and make a dona- tion. For more information contact Jayne Thompson, MVCA Communications Coordinator, at 519-335-3557 or jthompson@mvca.on.ca. LET'S ALL DO OUR PART! PLEASE RECYCLE.