A recent statement from the Anishinabe Women at Site 41 gives a fuller context to their prayer ceremony on concession road 2 this past Friday.
They write, “The Prayer Ceremony was planned in response to Thursday’s CMC (community monitoring committee) Meeting with representatives of the County of Simcoe and the Ministry of Environment.”
“Four members of our group attended, where it was very clear to everyone in attendance that the concerns of the CMC were not addressed, nor does it look like it will ever be. It begged the question of the audience; ‘What is the point of the meetings?’ The concerned citizens of the area and the Aboriginal People have deemed the meetings to be pointless.”
“The CMC continued to ask for the Calibrated ModFlow by the Hydrogeology Consultant Group, Jagger Himms. It is now known that Jagger Himms is being sold and the main consultant of the group is ‘on vacation’. The CMC has gone through a 2 year Freedom of Information battle to have the Calibrated ModFlow released by the County of Simcoe and it now looks like that will never happen, IF IT EVEN EXISTS. The Ministry of Environment itself has not even reviewed this piece of vital information.”
“The end of this (CMC) meeting, due to frustration in the audience, it was asked of the County of Simcoe and Ministry of the Environment ‘Who do we have to talk to to get this stopped?’ Both parties remained silent, until a member of the Native encampment stood up, and then the whole audience stood together. It was, without a doubt, one of the most powerful moments ever during this protest.”
“We left feeling that it was time to pray for hope, pray for healing for Mother Earth and pray for the strength of the people against the tyranny of the County of Simcoe and the Ministry of Environment.”
“Within 30 minutes of the beginning of the Prayer Ceremony the Ontario Provincial Police blocked Concession 2 with at least 5 cruisers, one of them being the video surveillance unit. The OPP were informed well ahead of time that a protest demonstration was to occur. With the Road Block in place, the women of the camp decided to take their prayers and drum songs to both gates, as it is our constitutional right to protest as well as to practice our religion.”
“The intent of the Ceremony was to pray for the raping of Our Mother the Earth and pray for the Aquifer as the Construction at Site 41 continues to increase. Every time a hole is dug, or the land is manipulated in some way, every time the Aquifer is de-watered they are inflicting pain and suffering on Mother Earth and draining her blood.”
“During last weeks de-watering of Site 41, a near by resident’s well was adversely impacted, as the water level dropped over 1 metre. The de-watering was to reduce the pressure of the ‘confined’ aquifer, adding to speculation that the underlying aquifer is not confined and has a direct relationship to the groundwater in the upper aquitard. Now, imagine if there was a breach in the design of Site 41, leachate in the groundwater directly to the Alliston Aquifer from the Oak Ridges Moraine to Georgian Bay.”
The Council of Canadians extends our soldarity to the Anishinabe Women at Site 41.
To learn more about this issue please go to www.canadians.org/water/issues/Site41/index.html.
To sign the ‘no water to waste’ petition against Site 41, please go to
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-dump-site-41.
