Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1978-07-27, Page 11• • Jack's Jottings from Queen's Park— BY JACK RIDDELL M:P.P. On June 9, 1978, the Attorney General of- ficially confirmed that the Province has decided not to pursue . its $35 - million lawsuit ti against Dow. Chemical, charged with mercury poisoning of Lake St. Clair. It's now more than a decade since scientists established a link bet- ween mercury poisoning and a diet of fish from • waters in which inorganic forms of metallic mer- cury had been converted into toxic methyl mer- cury by bacterial action in mud -bottom sediment. Former Liberal Leader Robert Nixon, called for an emergency debate on Dow's pollution of the St. Clair waterway on April 4-H changes to spark interest Changes will revitalize the 4-H Homemaking, program this fall across Ontario. New projects, to be rotated. across the province in the next 18 months, should spark interest among mem- bers, says Lorraine Holding, regional supervisor of`. home economists, Guelph. One project, 'Essential Edibles', will teach Teachers,boa1d•••• • from page. 3 salary costs as a result of the strike. He adds that if salaries are 75 percent of the board's budget, then the saving would be about 5.5 percent or 75 per- cent of 7.5 percent. _ _ - Elliott said the arbitration award • would cost Huron County taxpayers additional funds that could have been saved had the board not gone to ar- bitration. He indicated that the ar- bitrator had been less tharffair with the board in making his decision but would not say how much money the board was prepared to pay its teachers. Each year the board includes a percentage increase in its budget to cover salary increases to teachers. That sum is kept strictly secret since if it was public the teachers would be assured of that much of a raise. By withholding the sum the board hopes it can negotiate a raise less than the one projected in the budget. A reliable source said the board trustees felt that a seven percent in- crease, without increment, waa a reasonable goal for the negotiation team working on the 1978-79 contract. The arbitrator's decision to give teachers a 6.75 percent increase, plus increment, means the extra cost to the board would be about 8.25 percent. The arbitrator's decision cost the board less than two percent more .than it was realized until two years after the retirement. The gratuity is a cash settlement the board makes with teachers ' ho have accumulated sick leave time in their years of experience. The settlement can amount to as much as half a teacher's salary and that sum tacked on to the wage of the new teacher makes the total expense for teachers the same in both years. The next year, when the gratuity does not have to be paid, the salary spread is an immediate cost saving to the board. Elliott simply applied the salary increase to the present wage costs the board faces to arrive at the 9'18 per_ cent. Johns argues that the statement is unfair because the salary grid changes through attrition and that as teachers reach the end of their careers the board saves money on salaries. The bottom line for the taxpayer is that the arbitrator's decision to in- crease wages will cost him more money. Johns' exercise can be used to make a saving apparent but to the individual that saving will compute to less than five dollars. The average tax bill for 1978-79 will not show any , reduction in homeowner costs due to wages not paid during the teacher strike. prepared to pay its teachers for 1978-79. The ironical thing is that teachers That computes to slighty less than before, during and after the strike said $50,000 in the county's share of the that quality 'education costs more. budget and while to the average tax- Shirley Weary, a key negotiator for the payer it appears to be a large sum of teachers during the strike, said "better money, when spread over the entire education is one of the by-products of county it is not worth creating more more money" when asked to commerit hard feelings. on the arbitrator's decision. Elliott's claim that the increase That theory ,makes it impossible to awarded the teachers in the 1978-79 determine the cost of th'e strike. During contract year would increase costs on the 31 days the teachers were on strike the salary grid by 9.18 percent is only students were unable to benefit from correct if all the teachers return to their abilities and the loss of human county classrooms this fall. If the potential cannot be determined. salary increase was applied to the 1977- Some students may not make it to 78 salary grid the increase Elliott used post -graduate work that may have would be correct but those teachers" are earned -them thousands of dollars in 'a, not all retyrning. career Some ' students may' ' 'haV'e The time honored method for school droppe\i out of school and lose a great board budgeting is to project the deal of, earning power. Others may present salary grid to the next year and have had to alter plans for university or estimate salary costs for the next, college because of • the lost • classroom budget yeah. That is what Elliott did to time. make the statement he did. As one taxpayer reasoned there The salary grid for school teachers could be millions of dollars of money never 'remains the same two years in a not earned by students because of row. Retiring teachers, usually at the changes in their career planning as a high end of the grid, leave their posts result of the strike, and are replaced by lower paid, He commented that a budding Mona inexperienced teachers fresh out of Lisa, ready to be moulded by one of the school. That salary difference is a county's highly qualified teachers, saving to the board but because of the missed the chance to develop because sick leave gratuity clause in the the teacher was not in the classroom at teacher contract the saving is not the proper time. nutrition in snack foods. Learning to make a rain hat, scarf or shawl will be the aim of a second project, 'Accessories - The Final Touch'. Girls will need canvas and yarn for the third project, 'Needlepoint', to make cushions, coasters or wall hangings. All subject matter, activity suggestions and quizzes are contained in the 4-1-1 manual. "We think the im- proved manual will reduce record-keeping," says Miss Holding. "There will be a separate secretary's book for recording minutes of meetings." Achievement days will now encourage 4-H members to bring family and friends to see their articles on display. Shorter morning, af- ternoon or evening events are planned to attract the public. "Anyone aged 12 to 26 years is welcome to join the new , fall program," says Miss Holding. Recruits will learn the 4- 11 motto, 'Learn to do by doing', by organizing skits, planning demon- strations and exhibits, conducting meetings parliamentary -style and completing projects. After completing one project, each member 'arid leader .will be rewarded , with a silver spoon. _ V V 2, 1970, citing gross mercury poisoning of the water and the possible ruination of a $10 -million fishing industry, in- volving the livelihood of some 3,000eople. On April 6, the' overnment announced a fishing ban on the Canadian side of the polluted waxers. Fishing was also banned in the Wabigoon River and Clay Lake in Northwestern Ontario, contaminated, by the effluent from the Dryden Chemical Company. Dryden Chemical, Dow Chemical in Thunder Bay, Canadian Industries in Hamilton and Cornwall and American Can Company in Marathon were given until May 1 to eliminate:mercury mercury leakage to' receiving waters. Dow Chemical, Sarnia, was given until April 15. Five pulp and paper mills were given a similar ultimatum: Beaverwood Fibre, Thorold; Spruce Falls Power anal Paper, Kapuskasing; Canadian Johns-Mansville, North Bay; Strathcona Paper Company, Strathcona; and Domtar, Cornwall. 1.•ollowing • a meeting with Federal and Provincial Ministers on April 7, Dow's President refused to pay ,com- pensation to those who had lost income as a result of the mercury pollution in the St. Clair water system, while agreeing to eliminate the source of the mercury and to. act on O.W.R.C. recommendations for clean-up, with the company paying costs.. The Federal and Provincial Governments agreed to share on a 50-50 basis, the cost of interest- free 'loans to fishermen and tourist camp Twilight races. •fpage7 outromof their• take. Raceway chairman Paul Kerrigan said the Kinsmen had wanted to try the Thursday ni,.ht dates'to see how well they would go over, but blamed the early starting time -5:15 the first week, and 6 pm the second week as one of the prime reasons the races didn't •• draw crowds. The raceway cannot race at night because their isn't any tights. Sunday racing at the track, however, con- tinues to. be• a success with the betting, ;and handle about the same as last.year, which was the best ever in the Clinton track's eight year history. -w67-4---r,,.7..',..,_1(` TO SEEK AND FIND NEW WAYS TO ,,\" ASAUEVOUMONEV' . z N - Cetacol ,j/fJ,/jwggf c-) Ji FIELDCREST WHITE SALE time is here again. Now is your chance to buy those beautiful, luxurious Fieldcrest towels, bath mats, lid covers and tank sets at reduced prices. We have a wide ronge of colours and designs. Why not shop now and save during the month of August. (If we don't have just what you want, we can custom -order at sale prices - 'til August 15!) THE ARBOR 43Alhert Street Clinton, Ont. 482-3876 ONLY t 89 375 ML. II• HAIRSPRAY 400 ML. T 1 • BROMO 225 G. *TZERECZEONOMY 51 1 • the *square, GODERICH/rielis Corner, LINTON/Main Corner, S(AFORTS operators to "tide them over" until Dow's liability for compensation was established, at which time the loans were to be repaid. It was anticipated that loans to some 60 commercial fishermen and five resort operators would amount to less than $1,000,000 if the fishing ban lasted a year. In the Ontario Legislature on June 5, 1970 the Minister- of Energy and Resources acknowledged the problematical nature of taking legal action, because of the im- portance of "foreseeability" in the area of the law of tort negligence. He acknowledged the possibility of making an occurrence such as Dow's mercury pollution a statutory offence. However, on March 14, 1971 the Provincial Government filed a writ in the Supreme Court of Ontario against Dow Canada and its U.S.' parent company, claiming $25,000,000 for damage to the natural environment and loss of the fishery downstream from Dow's Plant on the St. Clair at Sarnia. The claim included $10,000,000 to cover the cost of dredging or otherwise removing the mercury from the bed of ' the St. Clair water system, in lieu of a court order requiring Dow Chemical CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, JULY 27,1978- -P4 ;4 to do this. A court order was also requested to prevent further- mercury pollution by the Dow Plant, which according to the P.W.R.C. was at that time emitting into the River between one-fifth and one-half pound of mercury a day. It was anticipated that this, the first government attempt to bring action for damage to the public interest, would determine many complicated legal points on environmental pollution. Premier Davis, announcing the suit, based on the common law of nuisance and trespass, said it hadn't been possible "to effect a satisfactory settlement with Dow Chemical." He expressed the hope that the lawsuit would settle some legal and factual issues and "assist both industry and the government in the future resolution of these problems." No charge of polluting the St. Clair was laid 'because Government legal advisers had con- cluded the discharged mercury was polluting the bed of the river rather than the water, and this was not covered by statutory law. The crux of the dilemma posed by tort la* principles was that the commercial fisher- men, now owning the river bed, had no fishing rights which could have been damaged by the mercury pollution, while the Province, assuming it owned the fishing rights, did not fish and could not claim significant damages when fishing was harmed. Rather than testing the matter An the courts, the Government could easily have passed a statutory law making Dow and any other polluter of the natural environment liable to damages. Now after seven long years, the Province has dropped the lawsuit, accepting a payment of $150,000 which barely covers outsirde legal and consultant fees in the long civil battle and does not include salaries and expenses of the Gover- nment's own lawyers and scientists. Fishermen have received private settlements from the company amounting to $250,000. To December 16, 1977 total costs to the government of the Dow lawsuit were $117,238. Additional costs since that date result in a total of $125,000. Incidentally, since 1971 Dow Chemical has received grants of ap- proximately $1 -million from the Ministry of the Environment of which $921,000 has been in the form of payments under the Pollution Abatement Incentive Act. GUARANTEED INVESTMENT CERTIFICATES 5 years—Annual Interest M/CDcNALDfrJbJtnER TF�D\NY (416) 276-2112 165 Dundas Street West, Mississauga, Ont. L5B 2N6. Member of Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Rates subject to change Agent inquires invited EL€OME The Employees of KEEP Ford Sales Leasing (Delaware) To ental Plan? These employees and their families have good reason to smile ... they have the best preven- tive dental plan' available today. Everybody agrees good teeth are one of the most impor- tant factors in good health. The Blue Cross Dental Plan 7 was designed to provide basic dental treatment to group subscribers ificlud- ing such services as examinations, fillings and x-rays, through extractions and anaesthesia. 3104 "As 'your Ontario Blue Cross representative I am pleased to add my personal welcome, and look forward to serving you along with the many others in this region already enjoying the protection of a variety of Blue Cross Plans: " Phil deBarros 227 Queens Avenue. London. Ontario N6A 1J8 (519) 439-4431 •ONTARIO BLUE CR • SS A DIVISION OF THE ONTARIO HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION 411