The Rural Voice, 1983-08, Page 28FARM NEWS
Storm brewing over dump site
There is a storm brewing in McKillop
township. The municipalities of Seaforth,
McKillop and Tuckersmith plan to open a
new sanitary landfill site in the township,
and the neighbours don't like it.
Leading the protest is Mae Govenlock
and she has a lot of support in her efforts
to thwart the attempts.
It is not that the issue is a new one for
the people of the area; it has been simmer-
ing for at least five years.
The residents have known about at-
tempts to sell the idea of a dump on lot 24,
conc. 4, since 1978, according to
Govenlock. That was the year John McII-
wain bought the property for a gravel pit.
He thought that a parcel of about 30 acres
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PG. 26 THE RURAL VOICE, AUGUST 1983
would be ideal for a landfill site and it
seems that Seaforth councillors of the
time agreed with him. At least they took
an option on the parcel.
The residents were concerned enough
to write a letter to their own township,
dated November 2, 1981. to express their
"...concern over attempts by the Town of
Seaforth and the owner of Lot 24, Conc.4
to make an agreement on a Landfill site in
our area and to state we do not feel this
site is suitable or feasible".
The letter went on to say that the peti-
tioners wanted the township to test exten-
sively, as they believe that no site is one
hundred percent safe. They also demand-
ed that adjacent farmers should be allow-
ed to take part in the decision making.
Nothing seemed to happen after that,
until Seaforth renewed their option on the
land with a payment of $1,000 to McIII-
wain.
Area residents complain that profits for
Mclllwain are unreasonable. They say:
"With Class 2 land ...100/0 depreciated ..
we question a price for Class 4 land of
$3.333 an acre..."
The letter states further that the
research by B.M. Ross & Associates'
engineers under the guidance of Mr.
George Godin, P. Eng. is inadequate and
that the objections of the residents have
been ignored.
The group says it is easy for Godin to
say everything is safe. "He is not finan-
cially liable for our losses of capital on
resale value of our properties should this
dump be situated in our neighbourhood;
or environmental problems with water
supplies, human illnesses or livestock
health."
But the criticism is not limited to the
engineers. The municipal councils of
Seaforth and McKillop are accused of too
much secrecy about the whole matter. But
all proponents categorically deny any
secret dealings.
Gerald VandenHengel, an agrologist liv-
ing close to the site, said that the
engineers use such unfamiliar words that
farmers don't understand them. That is
the same as secrecy. He further accuses
an unnamed councillor of the township of
telling him there is nothing official about
a dump site. VandenHengel took from this
that there was no issue to worry about.
Bill Siemons, the township's represen-
tative on the Seaforth and Area Sanitary
Landfill Site Committee, and Mrs. Marion
McClure, McKillop Township clerk, also
deny any secrecy. All our council
meetings are open, McClure says.
The same assurances are voiced by Jim