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The Huron Expositor, 1990-08-01, Page 1INDEX Serving the communities and areas of Seaforth, Brussels, Dublin. Mensal) and Walton Births - 13A Obituaries • 13A Spurts - 8, 9, 10,A Classifies - 11, 12, 13A Seaforth boy page at Queen's Park - See page 5 New priest welcomed to Seaforth - See page 4 Soccer League standings - See page 10 ,s1C1Iluron xpositor Seaforth, Ontario WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1, 1990 60 cents a copy Holmesville landfill site deal incomplete BY NEIL CORBETT A deal has yet to be Made for the purchase of the new landfill site in Holmesville. For the past three months the secretary of the Mid Huron Landfill Site Board, Larry McCabe, has been telling the board members that a deal is soon coming. The deal is in the hands of lawyers for both the board and the owner of the proposed site, George Lavis. McCabe says the parcel of land being negotiated is 55 acres in size and will cost approximately $500,000. His only comment on the land negotiations has been in trying to determine the buffer lands around the site. "We haven't finalized (a deal) but hope to in the very near future," says McCabe. CLOSING OLD DUMP The existing land fill site is being closed. McCabe says it is simply full to capacity, and was not or- dered closed as was reported in another publication. To close the dump its operators must follow a closure plan that was approved by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE). Phil Bye, MOE area supervisor based in Owen Sound, has been closely involved with the Holmes- ville landfill site in recent years. He says as the sae is closed it has to be contoured, and capped with day, topsoil, and seeding for a vegetation cover. The purpose of the clay cap is to keep precipitation out of the site, thereby stopping leachate (co- ntaminated water) from running into groundwater. Bye says a second part of the board's responsibility in closing the site will be perpetual care. He says the Mid -Huron Landfill Site Board will be responsible for the landfill site "in perpetuity. The operating authority never ceases to be respon- sible for the landfill site." Bye explains the board will have a monitoring program to determine any offsite impacts of the landfill through groundwater. He says the MOE is monitoring water quality in Hopkins Creek and in monitoring wells built into the landfill site to gauge water quality. As leachate moves through soil it is naturally cleansed, and "we're anticipating that with the closure of the site, and the impermeable cap, there will be a marked reduction in leachate produced," he says. Bye says the land at the landfill site can be used as parkland or another "passive use", but only after 25 years and with approval from the environment minister can the site be used for an "active use" such as building or development. Bye says many parks are actually old landfills. The Holmesville site is scheduled to be closed by Decem- ber 31, 1990. NEW DUMPING SITE Although the new landfill site is being purchased it has not yet been approved by the MOE for all of the eight municipalities using it. It has been approved for use by Goderich, Clinton and Goderich Twp., the three municipalities which were originally dumping in Holmesville. Bye explains that to have the site approved to serve a larger population it must undergo a tech- nical investigation to determine its suitability. "So unacceptable im- pacts off the property don't occur." Then a plan of development and operation must be submitted to the MOE, detailing things like where dumping will begin and end. This plan will also deal with special considerations such as noise, dust, visibility and groundwater concerns. BY-PASS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT The next step in the approval process would normally be an en- vironmental assessment. This deter- mines such things as alternatives to landfill, socio-economic impacts of a landfill, and the operator generally defending its choice of site. But Bye says because many of these questions are being asked by the Huron County Waste Management Master Plan study, the landfill board is expected to apply to the MOE for an exemption from an assessment. However, Bye says the public will still get its chance to publicly speak against the site. If an exemption is granted, the board will go to a hearing before the environmental assessment board, and the public may speak for or against the site. He says public meetings will be held before this hearing. Bye would make little comment about the landfill site other than that "the area they're considering shows merit." It has been said that the old dum- ping site would never have been approved under today's environ- mental standards, and Bye agrees "probably not" "Regular inspections on the property suggest the site is being conducted in an acceptable man- ner," says Bye. McCabe says the life of the new dumping site, when it is acquired will be nine to 10 years. He added that the clay bottom in the new site should be much better than the gravel of the old. CALL OF THE WILD - Bandit the raccoon met Wayne Hodges, Clinton at the Pyjama Party. Wayne was showing his car, a 1956 Ford Fairlane as part of the party. Oxford photo. Crop burning not proper disposal method People driving along highway 8 north of Clinton late July 24th afternoon may have noticed billows of smoke that reached into Seaforth. The fire was purposely set by a farmer who burned about 40 acres of hay that was ruined by the high amount of rainfall of late. Clinton Fire Department firefighter, Clayton Groves, said "hay burning isn't a common prac- tice anymore." "Maybe the hay was full of mil- dew from the rain and the farmer felt the best way to rid of the sour hay was fire. With all the rain we've had, and if cut at the wrong time, hay will turn black and sour. Then it's no good to feed to animals." Brian Hall, OMAF farm management specialist, said crop burning is "very uncommon and can damage or kill the cutting underneath. Crop burning was done a long time ago, but is not a recom- mended practise anymore. Sour hay that has been chopped is usually put back in the field by ploughing. The preferred practice is ploughing as opposed to burning because burning wastes good organic matter that can be put back into the field. "This year only the odd hay field is being bypassed because farmers need four or five dry days for har- vesting. Last week humidity was high and dry weather is needed. There's the odd field that has been through several rains, causing the hay to decompose and become unworthy. Most hay is in barns now, but this year's hay is not as good quality as usual." Paul Josling, Blyth and District Fire Department Chief, said crop burning happens often enough and this year there have been the same number as usual. tii#4LA 4-H BALLOON RELEASE - Seventy five balloons with messages attached were released into the skies over Lion's Park, Seaforth July 28 to help celebrate 75 years of the 4-H club in Ontario. The kids hopeto hear from people that find their balloons. Oxford photo. 4-H celebrates 75 years To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the 4-H club in Ontario Area 4- H members had an all -day party at Lion's Park, Seaforth July 28. There are 1,000 members in Huron County and Saturday 75 represented the club in Clinton, Brussels, Seaforth, Blyth and Lucknow. The youngsters played baseball, 4 went on a scavenger hunt and swam at the Lion's pool. After a pot luck dinner picnic prizes were given out for the teams. The teams were Lucknow Beef Calf club; North Huron Vets Club, Blyth and area; Hall Rice Dairy club, Blyth and area; Simpson's Express, Brussels and Clinton Dairy club. The day ended with a balloon release and 75 balloons were released over the park. Each youngster has a message with their name and address attached to the balloon and they all hope to hear from people who find tl-, it balloon • "People burning crops should call the fine department to let us know," said Chief Josling "so we only send a truck out if the fire gets out of control. A farmer usually rakes the hay into windrows with a side rake and sets them on fire. We get one or two reports a year. Of course if it's an agricultural building to be burnt, like a barn, the fire department must be notified. We do occasionally burn buildings for people. We'll do it on a practice night and standby. But we do not burn crops. "If we're not informed and send a truck, they'll have to pay for the call. We need notification so that if the notifying person does call, we'll know the fire is out of control. Also, we'd hate to see a truck tied up on a false alarm when an emer- gency call comes in. Eighty five per cent of firefighters killed while working are responding to false alarms. "A really dangerous fire is a wheat field fire, and this is the time of year for them. A wheat field fire will move at 60 miles an hour and is a real wildfire. Ninety per cent of them are caused by a car or farm equipment's hot muffler or catalytic converter touching wheat, even stubble. When we fight a wheat field fire we move the trucks onto a burned patch soon as we can to avoid igniting wheat with our truck." Shoreline erosion discussed BY PAUL RUDAN STANLEY TWP - As the coas- tal bluffs continue to erode into Lake Huron, a shoreline management expert is recommen- ding erosion should be allowed to continue and structures that restrict the movement of sand should not be built. These comments may come as a surprise to many lakeshore land owners. During the last few years, during periods of high water levels, cottagers erected groynes and other structures in an attempt to halt the erosion of their land. Now that lake levels have fallen, many are taking the opportunity to beef up their erosion defenses. However, shoreline management people say that many such defen- ses are inadequate and they produce negative effects to the south of the structures. "There's a limited supply of sand (along the Lake Huron shore)," commented Bill Baird, a coastal engineer and the keynote speaker at a public meeting for shoreline management along Lake Huron. He is also co-author of the Lake Huron Shore Processes Study commissioned by the Ausable-Bayfield, Maitland Val- ley, Saugecn Valley and St. Clair Region Conservation Authorities. According to Mr. Baird, 62 per cent of the shoreline sand comes from bluff erosion. Due to waves, sand is constantly moving south along the lake front. If erosion is restricted, he said, it cuts off the natural flow of sand and points south will lose their beach area. Ironically those who restrict the erosion of their bluffs receive their sand from eroding bluffs to the north. As an example of the situation Mr. Baird quipped, "Please erode your bluffs so I can protect my property -- that's the reality of it" He did punt out that sand is extremely valuable in protecting land from erosion Along the coastline study area, two natural collection points for sand are Point Clark and Kettle Point. However, man made bar- riers can also restrict the flow of sand. In Goderich, the harbor was built because it was in the best interest of the public. But the harbor blocks the natural flow and according to Mr. Baird, 25,000 cubic yards of sand is dumped on the north beach yearly. The effect is very little sand is left for the beaches in Goderich Township. On a smaller scale, erosion protection devices such as groynes can have a negative effect. The cottager who builds a groyne could have a great beach, but neighbors immediately south could lose their beach as a result of the erosion protection. "It seems people will throw up anything in an attempt to preserve their shoreline property," offered Geoff Peach of the Maitland Val- ley Conservation Authority (MVCA). He added that these structures are often unsightly and may fail in their purpose. The July 20 public meeting, at the Stanley Township Community Centre, was pan of the process for the conservation authorities to create and implement a Shoreline Management Plan (SMP). Conser- vation authorities, along the Great Lakes, were given the respon- sibiliq of their shorelines after periods of high lake levels from 1985-87. The MVCA expect to have their SMP in effect by the end of 1991. The Ausable- Hayfield Conservation Authority (ABCA) are not as advanced in their lake front study hut they say their SMP could he ready sometime in 1992. In his concluding statements, Mr. Baird outlined some of the recommendations made in the final report of the shoreline processes study: R • In general, erosion of the foreshore and bluffs should con- tinue. Bluffs should not be protected. Bluff erosion should be managed by establishing setbacks for development. • Structures that restrict the alongshore movement of sand should not be built. • Plans should be developed to nourish the shoreline in areas downdrift of large sections of shoreline that have been protected and where it is considered that natural erosion of this protected shoreline would have provided a significant volume of sand downdrift. • Where recession of the shoreline is predicted to continue for a long period of time, it is recommended that setbacks be established based on the erosion expected over that period of time and that these setbacks be re-established every 10 years for new construction following that date. MVCA General Manager Ken Westman pointed out these arc just the planning stages for a SMP, but he admits that getting cooperation from land owners, developers and municipalities will not be easy. However, the first step towards cooperation is making people aware of the facts, believes Fred Lewis, ABCA Chairman. "Erosion is there whether it's high or low (water) levels. There may be lower levels in a few years and people may forget (about erosion). I'm not sugges- ting anything, you just have to make them aware," Mr. Lewis stated. "With lower lake levels, now is a good time to look at the shoreline," said Patrick I)onnelly of the ARCA. "Prosection -- is it needed or not and what is and is not appropriate""