INDEX PCB Digest - 6/16/02
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1) Public Concern Temiskaming - For Immediate Release - 6/16/02
300 Cars Clog Trans Canada In Protest Over Bennett Incinerator
2) Petition to Premier Eves
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1) Public Concern Temiskaming - For Immediate Release - 6/16/02
300 Cars Clog Trans Canada In Protest Over Bennett Incinerator
Earlton, Northern Ontario� A massive convoy of vehicles descended on the farming town of Earlton this afternoon for a protest against Ministry of Environment moves to license the Bennett dioxin incinerator. An estimated 300 cars (and one school bus) clogged traffic on the Trans Canada Highway for the better part of an hour. The vehicles were part of two converging convoys -- one from Cochrane in the north and the other from Muskoka in the south. The highway protest was held to mark International Day Against Incineration.
Barb Bukowski helped lead the convoy that left the Kirkland Lake and Rouyn-Noranda district.
�I was amazed by the turn out. It seemed that the cars kept coming and coming. I think we proved today that we can mobilize people from across the north to stand together on this issue. We will not let the Ministry of Environment push through a made-to-order EA for this company.�
Bennett Environmental is currently undergoing an Environmental Assessment to site a hazardous waste incinerator in a residential neighbourhood in Kirkland Lake. Under the rewritten EA rules brought in by the Tories in 1995, no public hearings are planned. No independent reviews will be conducted on company claims. This scoped EA process was attacked last week in a damning report by CELA (Canadian Environmental Law Association). According to the report, Ontario�s EA process has stripped the rights of citizens to determine the safety of toxic waste proposals.
Barb Bukowski says the rally was held to organize residents to prepare for a much wider campaign against the Bennett EA process. She says the spirited crowd made it clear they were willing to move the campaign to a wider level, including civil disobedience.
�It�s a sad state of affairs that Ontario residents have to clog highways in order to get the attention of the Ministry of Environment. But people from our region are not going to be pushed around by this process. We have beaten bigger proposals than this one and, if necessary, we will take the message to the MOE in a clearer and bolder fashion.�
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P. O. Box 2320
New Liskeard, ON P0J 1P0
705-647-1533
[email protected]
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PCB Digest
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