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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-02-24, Page 1INDEX Obituaries — A5' Births — A5 • Sports — A7, A8, A9 Classifieds — A10, Al1, Al2 Hensall — A13 Legion - A14 Walton — A15 Dublin — A16 No more Huron County council picnics. See page A4. Serving the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin, Hensel) and Walton se Huron xposrtor Seaforth, Ontario HURON EXPOSITOR, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1988 50 cents a copy Hwy. 8 counts low Seaforth Mayor Alf Ross is concerned about a London Free Press article that reported traffic counts fail to justify the widening of Highway 8. The Seaforth Mayor, as well as mayors from Goderich, Clinton, Mitchell and Strat- ford have mounted a strong push in the past year to have Highway 7-8 from Kitchener to Stratford expanded to four lanes and Highway 8 to Goderich improved to at least include passing lanes. They have met at least once with Transport Minister Ed Fulton. At that time the mayors stressed the ex- pansion project was essential for the in- dustrial growth of their municipalities, and added the expanded highway would act as an incentive to new industry. Seaforth's Mayor Ross said he is not only upset the highway widening might not be considered, but that the MTC would not notify the concerned municipalities of that possibility. KING OF THE MOUNTAIN - Snow was falling last week and the student of St. James Separate school love it. The mountain of snow in their school yard is great for sliding down or for a rousing game of that old favourite "King of the Mountain." Professor says Holmesville site sKould BY TED SPOONER "If you can smell it (the landfill site), it is injuring you in a measurable way. It is not going to cause you to drop dead tomor- row, but it injures you," Joseph E. Cum- mins, Associate Professor of Genetics at the University of Western Ontario told a public meeting concerning the Holmesville Landfill Site. An area of Cummins study has been the impact of of landfill sites on human beings, and he has worked with several communi- ty groups who have expressed concern over area dumps. He began in 1980 by visiting a group of people who live near a dump in Stouffville and is currently with a group in Essex County. He was invited to address the Feb. 16 meeting by the Ratepayers Against the Holmesville Landfill Site group. "My suggestion is to cap it (Holmesville landfill site), close it, put in a leachate system and look for a suitable alternate site," said Cummins. Cummins quoted research texts, in- cluding one by the Environmental Protec- tion Agency in the U.S., that said, "gravel pits are well known to be the worst place to put a dump." Cummins said gravel pits are below the ground water level. "Once the ground water is polluted, it is polluted for good," said Cummins. He ex- plained ground water is not like a flowing river, there are no natural elements such as oxygen and micro-organisms to break down the pollution. The Holmesville Landfill Site Commit- tee is looking to close the existing dump – built in a gravel pit – and open a new dump on the same property. The proposed site is not gravel. The committee has retained the engineering firm of Conestoga Rovers as consultants. Philip Bye, of the Ministry of the En- vironment said the current users of the site are looking to take over sole responsiblity of the dump from the operators, Laois Con- struction. Goderich, Goderich Township, Clinton, Colborne . Township, Bayfield, Lucknow and to some extent Seaforth and Tuckersmith Township are all using the site. The original certificate of approval named only Goderich, Goderich Township and Clinton as users of the site. The cer- NEARING COMPLETION - The building that will house the Seaforth Community Health Centre is slated for completion in early spring. Here, members of the hospital boad take a look at the progress from the inside. Mcllwraith photo. Health Centre construction advanced Planned for completion in early spring, construction of a new Seaforth Community Health Centre is well advanced. The 10,800 foot building is framed in with roofing trusses in place, and brick work, concrete flooring and roofing is progressing as weather permits. The one storey brick building, 139 feet by 85 feet, will provide accommodation for a mental health facility, offices for the coun- ty health unit, as well as Six professional suites. While the hospital will build and operate this new facility, officials emphasized it is being financed on a full recovery basis with accommodation being leased to each occu- pant. Leases provide that tenants are responsible for caretaking, heat, light and business tax, in addition to a basic rent. Doctors presently occupying the Seaforth Medical Clinic on Goderich Street West have already entered into an agreement with the hospital and are covering four of the six medical suites. Discussions are be- ing concluded concerning the mental health and health unit accommodation. tificate also called for 55 acres and cur- rently 10 are being used. Bye expects the committee to make a formal application to close the existing dump and open another on the site, by the end of next month. Cummins said open garbage at the site is a clear violation of the Environmental Protection Act and expressed concern over the management of the dump. He also said if the garbage had been compacted and covered -up, the open fire that was burning at the site last August would never have started. While the open fire has been extinguished, the garbage is HPRCSSB opposes ruling In letters to Prime Minister Brain Mulroney and Premier David Peterson the Huron -Perth Roman Catholic Separate School Board is making known its oppos- tion to the new abortion ruling that the decision to abort is between a woman and her doctor. The letter explains that the Catholic Christian Philosophy and the values taught in Roman Catholic schools em- phasize human life from the moment of conception. The board requests that action be taken immediately to accord the unborn in law. Trustee John Devlin said this move by the board will show the government how seriously the board takes the issue of abortion. "It (the article) was the first I knew the highway widening might be cancelled and it causes me a hell of a lot of concern," he said. "We (the, five mayors) spent a lot of time and did a lot of work preparing the brief for the MTC and we should have at least been given the opportunity to talk on it. If the arti- cle is correct, it doesn't sound very good." According to the article the widening of highway 8 between New Hamburg and Goderich to four lanes isn't justified by traf- fic counts, but the MTC is checking on whether other reasons support 'the multi- million dollar cost. "Our assessment now is that based just on transportation needs, we would be hard pressed to convince anybody there is a need even to commence a planning study or a route relocation study," said Bob Pillar, director of the ministry's transportation capital branch in Toronto. Turn to nage 12A • Driver left in cold, car stolen There were no major traffic accidents in town as a result of frosty weekend weather, but one motorist managed to be left out in the cold when her car was stolen. Vicki Tremeer left her car running while she ran into Mac's Milk. She had just pop- ped into the Pizza Train when she was summoned by school friends who had seen someone drive off with her car. Miss Tremeer summoned police and a description of her car, including its licence plate number, was dispatched to other police departments in the county. The car was recovered in Clinton within 15 minutes, and an 18 -year-old male from the London area, on release from a previous offense, was arrested. Seaforth Police Chief Hal Claus said good radio communication made it possi- ble to effect an immediate response to the theft. He also said it helped that Miss Tremeer knew her licence plate number. But he added, "People should not take things for granted - like being able to leave their cars running while they run into stores - even in a small town." be capped, abandonned still burning. Bye describes the situation as a "burning" rather than a fire. Cummins describes the situation as "in- credible" and said the Holmesville dump is "about as hot a site as you will find." A low-temperature, anaerobic (in the absence of oxygen) fire produces harmful by-products said Cummins. The heavy smoke contains toxic chemicals. "Even after they put out the bloody fire there are still problems with trapped methane," he said. Bye is not sure how to put out the burn- ing, but he has heard of two methods, either digging up the dump or using dynamite. Tony Crutcher of Conestoga Rovers was unavailable for comment about how the burning will be extingushed. Cummins recommended air quality tests be conducted while the site is still burning. "We have never caught one of these dump fires in the act," he said. The open garbage has also attracted rodents and wild dogs. Bye said the ministry will recommend professional ex- terminators be brought in to deal with the problem. He is also satisfied the exposed gargage on the North and West slopes have been compacted and covered. Weather leads to death A woman was killed on the weekend, and several more people were injured, in a car accident caused by poor road conditions on Highway 4, north of Exeter. Judy Hardy of RR 3 Melbourne died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident which saw the -car she was riding in, collide with another. The Exeter detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police said William Stebbins of Hensall, was southbound on Highway 4 two miles north of Exeter at apprxoimately 6:28 p.m. when he lost control of his vehicle and veered into the path of northbound William Honsberger of Route I Bayfield, killing Ms. Hardy. The front of Mr. Honsberger's vehi- cle collided with the side of the Stebbins vehicle. Other passengers in the Honsberger vehi- cle, including Mr. Honsberger and Terry Hardy and Jane Hardy of RR I Bayfield, received major injuries. Mr. Stebbins was the only one in his car and received minor injuries. Exeter OPP a 'buted the collision directly to road con 'tions and no charges have been laid in onnection with the accident. There were two other weather related ac- cidents which occurred on the weekend. A single vehicle accident occurred Friday at 5:30 p.m. on Highway 4 south of Kippen. There were no injuries, but there was vehi- cle damage. The other accident was on County Road 2 on Saturday at 4:25 p.m. and involved a M- end a truck. Again there were no injuries resulting from the accident. NEW PORTABLE X-RAY - The Seaforth Community Hospital has received delivery of a newportable xray machine. The machine, which cost $42,500 replaces a 20 -year-old unit in which a timing device had become defective. Demonstrating use of the machine is the hospital's x-ray technician, Ruth Lyon. Mcllwraith photo.