Conservative environment minister Ross Wiseman has sanctioned the destruction of Sandy Pond
A media release issued today states, “(Newfoundland and Labrador) NDP Leader Lorraine Michael is taken aback by the language Ross Wiseman, Minister of Environment and Conservation, has used in his press release marking World Water Day 2011. ‘I am astounded that the Minister of a Department that sanctioned the destruction of two bodies of water in this province – Duck Pond and Sandy Pond – can at the same time issue a press release saying how people understand the significant role water plays in our cities towns and communities and how water is an essential element of life,’ says Michael.”
The media release adds, “New Democrats know the importance of clean fresh water which is why we are opposed to allowing large corporations to use natural water bodies to dump their garbage and poison. …This government (of Conservative Premier Kathy Dunderdale) must learn that every person in Newfoundland and Labrador deserves easy access to clean safe drinking water and corporate profits should never trump the protection of the environment.”
In October 2010, VOCM in Newfoundland reported that, “The New Democrats are backing the efforts of the Sandy Pond Alliance in saving the pond from being used as a dumping site. The federal NDP Environment Critic, Linda Duncan, says Sandy Pond and other bodies of water are owned by the people of Canada and she says the public should have a say in how things proceed with Sandy Pond. …Duncan joined NDP Leader Lorraine Michael in St. John’s to discuss the issue. Michael calls it shameful that the (Danny) Williams government went along with the plan. She says it would cost about $480 million to build a containment facility instead of using the pond and Michael says that would be only a drop in the bucket for Vale.”
For more on the Council of Canadians campaign to defend Sandy Pond, please go to http://canadians.org/water/issues/TIAs/sandy-pond.html.
