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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-03-14, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 14, 1990. McKillop, Grey residents object to possible waste site A decision on a possible site for a Huron county waste disposal site is still two years away but residents of the east end of McKillop and Grey townships made it plain at a meeting in Blyth Thursday night, they don’t like the idea of having it in their backyard. A group of residents of the area were among the 60 people attend­ ing the second of two public meetings to discuss the Stage 2A report of the county’s Waste Man­ agement Masterplan. The latest stage of the study identifies possi­ ble markets for recycled or energy from waste as well as possible locations for landfill sites. The Grey and McKillop residents were in an area called by Huron County Engineer Dennis Merrall as “The great green blob’’, referring to the area designated on the studies maps in green. The area had been marked out through the studies “constraint mapping’’ pro­ cess that excluded land for various reasons such as being too close to built-up areas, airports (because seagulls attracted by the sites can be dangerous to aircraft), wet­ lands, utility corridors and aggre­ gate resources. Also taken into account for this study was Class 1-4 farmland. By the time all that was taken out as possibilities, the only significant areas left were the two areas of eastern Grey and McKillop of about 1000 acres. But residents of the area felt this area too should be left out. One questioner said the area used to be wetlands and the water table is only three or four feet below the surface. Another, John Menzi, RR 3, Monkton suggested the county would be safer to look at four or five smaller sites so the concentration wouldn’t be so large in any one site and the danger to the environment would be reduced. Representatives of Gore and Storrie Limited, the consultants who prepared the study tried to stress that no conclusions were being drawn from the study at this point. Les MacMillan said that through the public consultation process it had already been indi­ cated that the 1000-acre area had Huron to join Perth over railway sale Huron County Council will at­ tempt to form a common front with Stratford and Perth County in seeking answers to the possible sale of two of the county’s three remaining rail lines. CN Rail recently announced plans to seek buyers for the line from Stratford to Goderich and from Clinton south to London. Reeve Bill Mickle of Exeter pro­ posed the motion to form a commit­ tee with Stratford and Perth when he suggested the sale of the line might be the first step in the abandonment of the lines. He noted that if the lines were closed it would put tremendous pressure on other transportation in the area, particularly Highways 4 and 8 which are already overburdened. “Without it (the railway) I think we’re on the end of a dying vine,” Reeve Mickle said. . Planning director Dr. Gary Davidson agreed that working with Perth would be a very good move. Reeve James Robinson of Hen­ sail said he agreed 100 per cent with Reeve Mickle. It wasn’t long ago, he said, when Hensail Co-op opened a major new facility and at the opening ceremony a CN official had said the extra traffic the facility would generate would guarantee the future of the rail line for many years to come. Warden Lionel Wilder said he already been tested previously by another consulting company and rejected for hydrogeological rea­ sons. If that is the case, he said, the area would be rejected. The consultants said that since the quantity of Class 1-4 land in Huron is so high, it eliminated nearly all significant sites if good farmland is to be protected at all costs. He said if people of the county felt strongly that all class 1-4 farmland should be exempted from use for a landfill site it would Jo-Anne Richter, Project Co- ordinatorfor the Waste Manage­ ment Study speaks to the audience. make it difficult to find the required 150-200 acre site. *• One questioner who did worry about the possible loss of farmland was Doug Garniss of Morris town­ ship. He said it bothered him greatly that farmland was not excluded from possible use while airports were. Mr. MacMillan ex­ plained that it is the concern with seagulls and aircraft. Others at the meeting seemed more worried about safety of groundwater than with the loss of farmland involved. Mr. Garniss remembered the same occasion. Speaking of the co-op’s expansion, Warden Wilder said it would be tragic if the rail line was to close after such a major commitment from farmers of the area. A CN spokesman said at the time of the announcement of the pro­ posed sale: “It’s a tough competi­ tive situation in North America.” Mike Matthews said CN wanted “to focus on what is best for us.” That means the government-owned railway will concentrate its efforts on high-density traffic lines in other parts of the province while offering the two local lines to a private buyer. “This will be a good opportunity for someone wanting to start a railway” Mr. Matthews said. He said that in the United States there are 200 similar short- haul rail lines. Huron county already lost one rail line last year with the closing of the CP Rail line from Guelph to Goderich. Another line, from Lis- towel to Wingham has two years to prove it is economically viable or will be shut down. When the CP line was abandoned one of the reasons was that the county would still be well served by the Goderich-Stratford CN line. In 1988 and 1989 total freight handled on the two lines totalled 550,000 tons each year, or 6000 carloads. suggested that incineration of waste might be the best answer to the problem. Mr. Merrall said that incineration is not the complete answer and said that farmers in Essex county were as worried about air pollution from the new Detroit incinerator as they are about ground-water pollution. Mr. Garniss pointed out, however, that if the Detroit incinerator had to meet Ontario’s stricter emissions standards, the Essex farmers might not be so worried. Jeff Flewelling of Gore and Storrie said that the possibility of an energy-from-waste facility in Huron is marginal. An incinerator that would burn garbage and produce either steam for heating or electricity requires about 50 tonnes a day of waste. A marketing study showed there is no real customer in the county for heat from an incinerator. An electrical generat­ ing plan could recover about $250,000 a year in electricity sales. There would be monev to be made through such an energy- from-waste plant if the county wanted to import garbage from other municipalities but it’s unlike­ ly people in the county would want that and it’s unlikely any other county would be interested in taking Huron’s garbage. Chris Lee of Walton worried about the future economic cost of choosing one site in the county. Over the 30-40 year life of the site, he said, transportation costs could soar as garbage is trucked to the site from all over the county. Mr. Merrall said that until the waste management study gets down to its final stages it won’t be known if one, two or three sites might be chosen. It will be about a year from now before possible sites are identified and ranked in order of their MVCAoutlines projects budget for 1990 The Maitland Valley Conserva­ tion Authority secretary-treasurer, Marlene Schiell, announced at the annual meeting on Friday in Wrox- eter that the total proposed budget for 1990 is $2,417,200, and that 12 per cent of this amount will be made up by general levies, which is a proposed increase of six per cent from last year. The remainder will come from provincial grants, spe- cial levies and other revenue. The general levy for each muni­ cipality is based on the discounted equalized assessment across the Maitland watershed. Blyth resi­ dents’ share will be 1.2158 per cent of the total; Brussels, 1.1813; Grey Township, 3.6645; Hullett Town­ ship, 3.4373; McKillop, 3.6927; East Wawanosh, 1.8594 and West Wawanosh, 1.8377. A number of projects and activi­ ties were outlined for 1990 by the authority. In the Land Use program there will be continued work done to protect and restore wetlands and other natural areas. About 110,000 trees will be planted through reforestation for private land­ owners. Marvin Smith from the Ministry of Natural Resources says, it is not enough to plant trees, but to recognize how to manage them. “We need trees that are fast-growing with a good-life span to be converted into a useful, high quality product. In the Development program the focus is to minimize flood and erosion. In Land Management the MVCA will continue its work with farmers and landowners promoting soil and water conservation practices. Trees for windbreak and roadside plant­ ings will continue on a cost The facts Huron county Engineer Dennis Merrall speaks to the public meeting to discuss the Stage 2A report of the Huron County Waste Management Masterplan study. About 60 people attended the meeting Thursday in Blyth. stability. That will be in the final stage, Stage 3A of the report. After that it may take another year before the county decides if it really wants to get into the waste management business and if so, which of the options it wants to get involved with. Under provincial legislation the county can decide to take over waste management and can expro­ priate land required. Mr. Merrall suggested there would be “quite a discussion” on what direction the county should take. recovery basis. About 4,400 will be made available, as well as seed­ lings for farm windbreaks. The MVCA will continue to educate people in the rural sources of water pollution. Local conservation areas will be maintained through the Property Management program. About $35,300 will be spent to improve the watershed’s facilities at con­ servation areas. CONSIGNMENT AND SLAVE AUCTION THURS. APRIL 5 AT 6:30 P.M. AT THE B. M. & G. COMMUNITY CENTRE Sponsored by the Brussels Optimist Club ALL CONSIGNMENTS WELCOME SPECIAL FEATURE: SLAVES [2 HRS. 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