The St. John’s Telegram reports this morning that, “Members of the Council of Canadians and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) are boiling over at the thought of Sandy Pond becoming a waste deposit site for Vale Inco.”
“Meera Karunananthan, the national water campaigner with the council, said the use of lakes as dump sites ‘shouldn’t even be an option.’ She said it was ‘outrageous’ for Vale Inco, which is developing a nickel processing plant in nearby Long Harbour, to use the natural pond as a ready- made trash bin. ‘We need to put an end to this practice,’ she said. ‘Canada is the only industrialized country to allow our lakes to be used as tailings ponds.'”
The article notes, “To protest the use of Sandy Pond, members of the council and other groups are having a picnic at the pond today at 12 p.m.”
The VOCM further reports, “There’ll be a motorcade to Sandy Pond in Long Harbour this morning. Representatives of the Council of Canadians in the province as part of their Blue Community Campaign promoting water as a human right, are protesting what they call the needless desecration of the area.
Vale Inco plans to dispose of tailings from the Hydromet plant in the pond.”
“(Council of Canadians) spokesperson Ken Kavanaugh says they want to focus attention on what he calls such destructive measures.”
