The Globe and Mail reports this morning that, “Environmental activists won a significant victory in the 25-year battle over the construction of a contentious garbage dump in Simcoe County Tuesday after the county council voted to impose a one-year moratorium on the development of Site 41.”
“The Simcoe County Council yesterday voted 22-10 in favour of halting construction…When the result of Tuesday’s vote was announced hundreds of dump opponents in the public gallery and hundreds more waiting outside erupted in applause.”
“It was a victory for the environmental movement, which has tried for years to block the dump. The moratorium sets the stage for another vote next month on whether to kill the project entirely, a vote opponents of Site 41 expect to win based on Tuesday’s broad council support.”
“Maude Barlow, the UN’s senior adviser on water issues and president of the Council of Canadians, was one of the most vocal critics of Site 41 and called Tuesday’s victory a turning point in the movement to protect water. ‘Because this was such an intense fight being watched all over the country, I think you’re going to see the same debate start happening everywhere. The shift is going to be from councillors searching for the least contentious place to put a dump to saying how can we have no more dump sites? How can we protect the water?’ Ms. Barlow said.”
“Peggy Breckenridge, the mayor of Tiny Township and one of the leading opponents of the dump, said Tuesday’s vote is the beginning of the end for Site 41. ‘Unless they can prove it’s safe, it will be [dead],’ Ms. Breckenridge said.”
“The moratorium will mean no construction can take place before the 2011 construction season, which will be after municipal elections slated for 2010. It’s expected that water issues will play an important role in those races.”
The full article is at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/contentious-landfill-put-on-hold/article1264456/?.
