Loading...
The Lucknow Sentinel, 1994-05-18, Page 1PUBLISHED IN LUCKNOW, ONTARIO Wednesday, May 18, 1994 554 G S T Included t Huron's landfill site selection Master study started in 1988 by Pat Livingston Property owners and neighbors of three sites in each of Ashfield and West Wawanosh townships, that have been identified as candidate sites for a Huron County landfill site, gathered at two separate meetings last week. It was an op- portunity to express concerns and ask questions. At each meeting, various mem- bers of the planning and develop- ment committee, that oversees the Waste Management Master Plan, along .with Craig Metzger, project coordinator, fielded the questions. Representatives from the Public Liaison Committee also attended both meetings. This committee functions as a• neutral, .third party. Background The waste, management study began in June 1988 when -it was determined that preferred methods were needed to deal with the Coun- ty's waste for a period of.40 years. The .study included an assessment of'waste quantities within the Coun- ty, and determining how much could be diverted from disposable with the remaining waste disposed of by landfill. A 62 acre site is needed. Metzger says the first six sites identified (Stage 2B) were subse- quently eliminated when a strict set of landfill siting criteria was ap- plied. As a result, the County of Huron decided to modify the selec- tion process and revised the siting criteria. This set the scene for Stage 2C, where, in the early process, 22 candidate sites were identified. This number was cut in half once visual field inspections from the road were. completed, site capacity and con- figuration . verifications were ap- plied, and preliminary hydrogeological investigations were completed. The next step requires on-site assessments of each of the can- didate sites in order "to determine that none conflict with any of the exclusionary or applied secondary screening criteria, and to determine overall suitability for landfill development," Candidate sites may be eliminated at this time. Once the access agreement has been received from the owners, Metzger is en- couraging them to participate in the walk-ons. If a site is not eliminated during the walk-on, permission will be sought to drill holes to about 50 feet to determine if soil is. Class 1 or 2. Metzger says the aim is to reduce the number of sites through the walk-ons, drilling and applying the evaluation criteria as set out by the County. The remaining sites would then be ranked, and the site with the least impact would become the preferred site.. At this point, various reporting stages follow, before the site' is submitted to the Environmental Assessment Board for approval (see timetable). When asked, during. the. West Wawanosh meeting, about compen- •See Compensation, page 2 Wawanosh residents apprehensive by' Pat Livingston Apprehension over potential ef- fects on the hamlet, of St. Augustine. was the main concern voiced by property . owners and neighbors attending a meeting to discuss three candidate locations for . Huron County's landfill site. - Around 100 people turned out for the meeting in. Dungannon last Friday evening. • The three sites - W3, W5(1) and W5(2) .- include consecutive lot numbers 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23, Con. VII, West Wawanosh Township. Property owners are Cecil and Marybelle Cranston, Joe Boyle, Ethel McAllister, Ralph Peterson, Wayne .Redmond and Ambrose Redmond. Anger permeated the meeting, as many questions or statements were directed at Craig Metzger, project coordinator and Dave Lee,. Blyth reeve . and. Bill Camochan, Tuck- ersmith reeve. Lee and Camochan are• members of the planning and developm'ent committee overseeing the waste management master plan. Ed Brophy; • owner of property east of the Redmond lands, couldn't understand why St. Augustine was chosen as a site, saying no con- sideration was given to. the human element, and no emphasis put on the number of people living around those identified sites. Metzger explained the process of looking at the county as whole, identifying 22 sites and subse- quently eliminating 11 of them. He stressed that the first priority was to look for a safe site, saying "the human element will be brought in when a shorter list of sites is listed." Brophy emphatically continued saying, "Social . impact was not considered. You could drive by. tonight and eliminate these,,sites." "It's a process of elimination," replied Metzger. Grant Johnston, owner of property on the south side of the road of the potential sites, asked, "Is it because. West Wawanosh population is so low you thought you could stick it up here?" Metzger replied - with a strong "No!" "Is it a nasty coincidence that all three sites are within thg St. Augus- tine community?" queried Sandra Harmer, co-owner of Cedar Lane Design, located east of site .W5(2). "Realizing we are looking at Class 3/4 land," said Metzger, "they are found in blocks. No other constraints eliminated that area." Bev Grierson also voiced concern that so little emphasis was being given to the social impact of a landfill site. 'Johnston wanted to know why: more central Alocation was not chosen.•"How much is it going to cost to truck this . stuff?" Metzger said that they looked' at having more than one site. "However, there is less impact on ' •See .Why, page 2 Reavie questions criteria used by Pat Livingston About 70 people turned out for the information meeting last Tues- day, on the three Huron. County candidate landfill Sites located in Ashfield Township; but it was more of a whimper than a bang. The three sites - A l , A3 and A4 - comprise properties located on Con. 14, 13, and 12 in the eastern division of the township. Property wners . are Casey and Cathy Nendriks, Dianne and Larry Henderson, Jim Gibson, Allan Gib- son, Jim and Tracey Van Osch, and Peter and Betty Van Osch. Stuart Reavie was very vocal in his objections to the 'Al site that has direct access to Hwy. 86 west of Lucknow. Reavie is the reeve of Lucknow and also owns a business immediately west of the Al site. He questioned the criteria used to choose the sites, saying, "In my opinion Al would be an environ- mentally sensitive area; the. river floods each yeat in the spring and there's bush to the west. What is the classification of the land?" Metzger said the Al site is believed to be Class 3 until they get . on the property and test. Referring to one• of the ranked secondary constraints,. Reavie said, "Al is just 2 km' from a built up area (Lucknow). There doesn't seem to be much of a buffer zone on a 62 acre site. Are you prepared to buy the whole block to keep' environmental concerns away from the area?" Metzger explained that a buffer zone of 50 m is included in the 62 acres. "What remains is where the garbage would go. We would at- tempt to, site it on one property owner." (Site' Al involves two property owners.) Reavie also wanted to know what the goal for overburden is. The answer was 50 feet. Addressing Joan Addison, representing the Public Liaison Committee, Reavie asked, "What were your (committee's) top five criteria for picking the sites? Addison didn't directly answer the posed question. She explained that the com'inittee's role was "to attend the earlier' public meetings four or five years ago. make sureyou the public are able to talk to the committee (waste management). Our concern is your concern. If your site was chosen, our concern is that you as the candidate were compensated." Metzger explained further that the public liaison committee is separate from the waste management com- mittee. "It is the public watchdog." There was no direct answer when Reavie asked Metzger, "What kind of tons (waste) are you looking at per year?" Metzger explained that the provincial target is to reduce. waste by 50 per cent by the year 2000. The provincial figures now are 1 ton/year/person. "We are •See Only, page 3 Help needed to prove area's under -serviced • by Pat Livingston LUCKNOW - Reeve Stuart Reavie is concerned with the lack of input from local residents following a request in the Mar. 30 issue of the Sentinel. Reavie sits on the Medical Centre Board, that is chaired by Walter Elliott. Elliott, through a letter to the editor, asked for letters of support in declaring Lucknow an under -serviced area in the board's efforts to obtain another doctor for Lucknow. Reavie says very few letters were received. "We need more." Advertisements have been placed in medical journals and interviews have been conducted with three different physicians. Reavie says, "They showed interest, but no commitment." To havea strong presentation to the Ministry of Health, the board must have more letters of support saying that Lucknow is under - serviced. A petition circulated last year will be included in the presentation. A letter to the editor in this week's Sentinel gives some very important facts about the doctor situation. The writer is urging others to follow suit. Letters of support may be mailed to Walter Elliott, Chairman, Lucknow and District Medical Centre Board, Box 40, Lucknow, Ontario, NOG 2H0. Release plans for '94 phase of Greenway by Pat Livingston Partners in Luckno'w's Greenway project met last week to release plans for year two's work. Green- way is a three-year project invol- ving the local Lions and Lions Ladies, Horticultural Society, Legion, . Kinsmen, the village, MVCA and Environmental Partners Fund. Private property owners along streams and rivers, and other groups have been involved as well. Councillor George Gibson, who chaired the meeting, said he looks' on the project as a ",pay back to Lucknow and the natural environ- ment that we inherited. The stream work completed has gone a long way to repairing any damage done during the sewer project." Dewayne Greig, on behalf of the Lions, .said the gazebo being constructed at Caledonia Park is one of the commitments of his group, and forms part of the walk - •See Lions, 'page 9 Volunteer coaches put together a six-week gymnastics program to fill the interim between winter and summer sports; Fifty-eight children have been meeting each Wednes" ,gay at LCPS for the free program. Here Joan Chamney, volunteer, gives a supportive hand to Torben Nielsen, as he attempts a head spring• (Pat Livingston photo)