Public Concern Temiskaming
For Immediate Release                                             January 19, 2002
Public PCB Meeting Shut Downs Input
Kirkland Lake --  A public meeting, held to discuss a proposed hazardous waste incinerator, came to an abrupt end Thursday night when the Chair of the local Citizen s Advisory Board cleared the room rather than allow a statement from a critic of the plan.
 
Under the new provincial EA guidelines, the company -- Bennett Environmental -- is mandated to gather feedback on its plan to import and burn contaminated soils from across North America. The January 17th meeting was supposed to be a forum for citizens to ask questions about the project.
 
Barbara Bukowski, a spokesperson for Public Concern Temiskaming, says the decision to shut the meeting down rather than allow debate, is indicative of the way public process has been shut down under the present Ministry of Environment.
 
This is a process that seems terrified of public input, says Bukowski. The company is given all the time it needs to sell the project but as soon as we ask difficult questions, we are denounced as unreasonable or belligerent.
 
Bukowski points out that under the new EA process, the company does not need to undergo public hearings or even a qualified and independent peer review. This, despite the fact that the PCB incinerator would be the largest of its kind in Canada.
 
Bukowski is calling on the Ministry of Environment to step in and restore full and independent public hearings.
 
Who is the Ministry of Environment out to protect? asks Bukowski. It would seem the MOE is more interested in paving the way for international hazardous waste operators, rather than providing Ontario residents with a qualified and independent review process.