For the last three days there have been letters to the editor in the Globe and Mail about Site 41.
I noted the first letter by Danny Beaton in the campaign blog at http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=1540.
Here are the other two letters:
TINY TOWNSHIP’S HUGE MISTAKE (July 24)
Danny Beaton of the Turtle Clan of Mohawk Indians makes a moving plea for preserving the probity of the water resource under the proposed Dump Site 41 from the viewpoint of First Nation spiritual values (This Dump Amounts To ‘Rape’ – letters, July 23). Even from a secular perspective, the plan for the Tiny Township landfill appears to be without merit. It is customary to make light of the “red-neck” environmental values of Albertans, but when we were assessing the suitability of a refuse disposal site for Edmonton in a fairly remote area of worked-out farmland south of the city, to get the province’s approval we had to show that even the least water that could be affected by some unforeseen failure of our approved design was already not fit for human consumption. It boggles the mind that this pristine water resource is under threat when secure alternatives have been discarded.
Iain F. Clayre, PEng, Edmonton.
A LINE IN THE WATER (July 25) Something is very wrong with using an injunction at Dump Site 41 in Tiny Township to block protesters fighting to preserve the site of some of the world’s purest water (Protesters Ordered To End Blockade At Landfill Construction Site – July 23). Who can really believe that it is right or good to put a dump over these sacred aquifers and springs? Water is sacred to First Nations and we must do everything to protect it, like the blood that flows through our bodies. What will the authorities say when court cases are launched against them for non-consultation with First Nations, whose ancestors drank from that very water before the white man came to dam it up, cut it down, pave it over, dig it up, etc. etc. etc. etc. How long will we stand by and let our Mother Earth be raped time and again? Too many have no care for the world we live in, only the dollars they make from polluting and destroying her. Who is going to take the brunt of this? Our children and grandchildren. This dump is a time to stand up: There should be a public inquiry over the handling of this site. We must all remember the admonition that we are not the lords of this Earth, we are her children.
David Grey Eagle Sanford, Toronto.
To send your own letter to the Globe and Mail, you can use this e-mail address: letters@globeandmail.com.
WEB-LINKS
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/july-25-letters-to-the-editor/article1230770/
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/july-24-letters-to-the-editor/article1229182/
