INDEX PCB Digest - 4/16/02
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1) Temiskaming Speaker - 4/10/02 _ Front page
Board ONE, KL doctors objecting to BEI
2) Northern Daily News - 4/13/02 - Headlines and Front Page
More opposition
3) Temiskaming Speaker - 4/10/02 - Letters to the Editor
I'm with Pierre and the Radicals
4) Public Concern Temiskaming - Press Release - 4/15/02
Ontario PCB Plan Challenged by Quebec Residents
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1) Temiskaming Speaker - 4/10/02 - Front page
Board ONE, KL doctors objecting to BEI
by Diane Johnston
Speaker Reporter
ARMSTRONG - A plan to locate a hazardous waste
treatment for Kirkland Lake is drawing objections from a group of the
town's physicians and the region's English public school board.
Nine of KirklandLake's 13 physicians have thrown their
weight behind a statement saying that the proposed Bennett
Environmental Inc. (BEl) plant is "not in the public's best interests."
"We feel this is a public health issue,"
said Dr. Richard Denton earlier this week.
Last month, District School Board Ontario North East
informed the Town of Kirkland Lake that it doesn't want the proposed
located near its students.
In a March 5 letter to Kirkland Lake council, board
chair Juergen Leukert says board members "strongly feel that
zoning should be denied to Bennett Environmental Inc."
He adds they believe that "no incineration of
toxic materials should be allowed so close to the students and indeed
the citizens of Kirkland Lake."
"We want to make sure that students our students,
any students in schools are safe," said Mr. Leukert last month.
BEl chief operating officer Danny Ponn said the school
board has not approached the company with its concerns.
For his part, he agreed that opponents are
"absolutely right" about emission problems from
incinerators constructed before 1985.
But BEl is proposing a modern operation, he said,
adding that recent studies of new incinerators in the United States
have found "no impact" from the operations.
THE PROJECT
BEl proposes to build a plant that would use a two
stage incineration process to treat up to 200,000 tonnes of solid
waste each year.
The material such as soil. dredging material,
construction debris, and packaging would be contaminated in low
concentrations by a variety of chlorinated and nonchlorinated compounds.
Contaminants include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
wood preservatives, coal tars and pesticides.
Some material would also be contaminated by dioxins, a
highly toxic substance that is also created during the combustion process.
The company maintains its technology is sound, and
points to test burn results from its similar but smaller plant in St.
Ambroise, near Chicoutimi, Quebec.
It cites data showing PCB destruction rates of 99.9999
per cent, and emissions of dioxins and furans well below accepted levels.
But the proposal has drawn heavy criticism from some
who argue that the incineration process poses risks to human health
and the environment.
"You're dealing with toxic substances. PCBs have
been linked to problems with neurological development in fetuses,
babies and young children," Dr. Denton said in an interview last
month. He had made a presentation to the school board on behalf of
Public Concern Temiskaming, a group opposed to the BEl project.
He said prolonged exposure to dioxins and furans has
been linked to cancer.
Emissions could be higher than expected, should
something go wrong in the plant, he said.
And even at low emission levels, he said the
substances also accumulate in the environment, eventually reaching
humans through the food they eat.
DOCTOR CONCERNS
The concerns were repeated by the Kirkland Lake
physicians in their recent statement, which also notes that
Temiskaming is an agricultural, hunting and fishing area.
They also say that the proposed plant would be built
within 1.5 kilometres of 2 elementary schools, a day care centre, a
kindergarten, and 240 homes.
Dr. Denton said earlier this week that physicians
prefer prevention of a problem to treatment later.
"That's what we do in medicine - try to prevent
problems," he said.
He said concerns have been raised about the operation
of the St. Ambroise plant.
He pointed to a letter from Andy Kennedy, director of
the regional public health authority in the Saguenay area, that
blamed the plant for trace amounts of lead; mercury, cadmium; dioxins
and furans found in forest soils near the plant.
But Mr. Ponn said further study has not linked the
contaminants to the St. Ambroise plant.
Mr. Ponn said a consultant hired by BEl has almost
completed his review of the studies that led to those findings.
He said consultant Bill Mills compared test burn
results from 1996 through 2000, looking at the substances that came
out of the stack and the materials found in the soil.
When the two were compared, "it was not a
match," he said.
Mr. Ponn said the company now believes that the
materials found in the vicinity of the plant have been deposited by
the general airflow of contaminants from distant places.
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2) Northern Daily News - 4/13/02 - Headlines and Front Page
More opposition
Public school board expresses concern over proposed
Bennett plant
Rick Owen
Northern News
Kirkland Lake:
The public school board has passed a motion stating
concern about the proposed location of Bennett Environmental's soil
treatment facility.
In a letter to Kirkland Lake's mayor and council,
District School Board Ontario North East states that the motion was
passed after the board heard a presentation on behalf of Public
Concern Timiskaming.
The motion, which reads: "That District School
Board Ontario North East send a letter to the Kirkland Lake Council
expressing concern regarding the burning of P.C.B.'s in close
proximity to schools in Kirkland Lake and that the Ministry of the
Environment and the Ontario Public School Boards' Association both be
cc'd on the letter," was moved by Trustee Bozzer and seconded by
trustee Johnson, neither of which represent Kirkland Lake.
The letter, which is signed by Juergen Leukert, board
chair, says: "The members of District School Board Ontario North
East strongly feel that zoning should be denied to Bennett
Environmental Inc. and that no incineration of toxic materials be
allowed so close to the students and indeed the citizens of Kirkland Lake."
Kirkland Lake Mayor Bill Enouy is definitely
disappointed that the school board took the action it did when it had
only heard from one side.
"I think they are reacting like a lot people do
to misinformation presented to them. If you are only going to listen
to one side of things, then that is the facts you are going to make
your decision on. What can I say? If they were really worried about
kids, which I doubt, then they would do a better job as a school
board and less worrying about what other bureaucracies have to do,
which is the Ministry of Environment in particular."
Danny Ponn, chief operating officer for Bennett
Environmental Inc., said Bennett was never invited to make a
presentation to the board and, to his knowledge, none of the public
school board trustees have been in touch with Bennett to get
information, unless they have been to some of the public sessions.
Ponn said Bennett is willing to meet with the public
school board and is meeting with the Catholic School board this
coming Friday.
Bennett is currently trying to contact the public
board to see if they can meet at their next board meeting.
Ponn too is disappointed that the school board made a
decision without looking at both sides.
"With something like this, they should look at
both sides before they should ever consider passing a motion like
this. There is a lot of information out there already that they can
tap into if they want to look at it carefully."
Enouy said the town's position is to allow the proper
channels to do their proper course of diligence at looking at this
project and we support the process.
The Northern Daily News attempted to contact Juergen
Leukart and Rosemary Pochopsky, the trustee for Kirkland Lake, but
without success.
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3) Temiskaming Speaker - 4/10/02 - Letters to the Editor
I'm with Pierre and the Radicals
Dear Editor:
I read Mr. Enouy's letter of criticism of Pierre
Belanger and the radicals with intrigue.
How interesting it is that the mayor of Kirkland Lake
is so determined to take on projects that are hazardous to our area
and he is so critical of those that oppose it. Radicals, I believe
was the word he used. Well, I guess I am a radical as well in this
case as I am very much against the PCB incinerator that Bennets would
like to build in Kirkland Lake.
Mr. Enouy, these radicals can read and they do. They
actually take the time to do some research on topics and then ask
some pretty tough questions, questions that people like yourself
don't seem to want asked. It doesn't take much effort to do a little
research on the effects of burning PCB's. Punch PCB's into the search
engine on a computer and be prepared for a little education that will
knock your socks off. You will find some pretty nasty facts out
there. There are a multitude of problems when we burn PCB's but
perhaps the one that most of us will understand, the easiest, is that
burning PCB's cause toxins which cause cancer rates to accelerate Mr.
Enouy. Cancer can kill you and you won't have to go to the internet
to have that fact proven to you, ask anyone you know, most of us have
lost someone to this nightmare.
Perhaps you might like to research some sites that
have already been subjected to a PCB incinerator in their town, like
St. Ambroise in Quebec or Swan Hills, Alberta. Now you might want to
make sure that you are sitting down when you come to these sites as
what has happened there, will make your knees weak. You may also want
to talk to the people that live there, I am sure that their comments
may convince you sir that you are asking for trouble when you invite
a PCB plant into your neighbourhood but then, I am sure that as a
responsible mayor for your town you already have done this or it is
on your agenda to do so. People there will tell you about
contaminated soils, birth defects, dead fish and wildlife that you
are advised not to eat, surely you won't be categorizing them as
radicals Mr. Enouy, as they are living with the consequenses that
somebody thought was a good idea.
You might also ask yourself why contaminated materials
are going to be transported from the United States all the way to
Kirkland Lake. Could it be, that nobody else is asking for this PCB
plant in their home towns? Could there be a reason for this? Surely
if it is safe there must be some place along that route that is
willing to build such a plant and make some money. Could it be that
there is a price to pay for bringing in such a plant and all those
locals along the route are unwilling to pay that price?
Well I have done some research on this subject Mr.
Enouy and the results have frightened me as to what you are asking
for and if being against this project labels me a radical then I am
willing to accept that. I think I will be in good company with the
likes of Pierre Belanger and many others who are unwilling to have
our families health as well as our own be subjected to such a health
risk. I guess we are just not the free spirit that you are Mr. Eunoy,
a man not only willing to take such a gamble not only for himself but
that could have a deadly impact on those in your own town. As for me,
I'm sticking with Pierre and the radicals.
Linda Miller
Thornloe
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4) Public Concern Temiskaming - Press Release - 4/15/02
Ontario PCB Plan Challenged by Quebec Residents
Rouyn – Plans to build a massive PCB/dioxin
incinerator in Kirkland Lake is continuing to stir outrage in
neighbouring Quebec. On Friday April 12th, 85 people, representing a
cross-section of Quebec-based organizations descended on the Quebec
Ministry of Environment offices in Rouyn-Noranda. They were demanding
that the province take a stand against Bennett Environmental’s
plan to import and burn contaminated materials in neighbouring
Kirkland Lake.
The protest had been organized by a group of nursing
mothers. They were looking to raise awareness about the threat of
dioxin contamination in mother’s milk. Lise Chartrand, one of
the organizers, said she was pleased that the mothers were given
support by a wide array of Quebec organizations. Representatives from
labour, senior’s organizations, farmers and First Nations
leaders took part.
“There is already enough scientific evidence to
prove there is a threat from dioxin and incineration,” Ms.
Chartrand told Quebec Ministry officials. “We want our
government to intervene in this process. We want to be assured there
will be no importing and burning of waste in this region.”
Among the speakers was Grand Chief Carol McBride of
the Algonquin Nation. Grand Chief McBride was a key leader in the
fight to stop the Adams Mine garbage dump from being built on
traditional Algonquin territory. Chief McBride told the Ministry that
her nation has been given backing from Chiefs across the north as
well as support from the Quebec Native Women’s Alliance.
“This company thinks they can do come onto
our land and burn their poison,” she told the crowd. “But
we will never allow this to happen. We already lost too much in the
last century. We don’t want to risk our children health and our
hunting territories and that for future generations. Our position is
clear: we will never permit this project to happen.”
Bennett Environmental is looking to build an
incinerator to burn contaminated soils and materials from across the
United States and Mexico.
For more information:
Contact:
Lise Chartrand (819) 493-1167
Barb Bukowski (705) 567-4837
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