MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
July 6, 2009

Simcoe County should stop Site 41 construction now

The Council of Canadians is calling on Simcoe County councilors to listen to public concerns about Site 41 and to stop any further construction of the garbage dump on the Alliston aquifer.

Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow says, "The opposition to this garbage dump is widespread and growing. This opposition is evident in the county, the province, and increasingly across the country. The determination of the local residents, First Nations peoples, as well as a growing list of provincial and national organizations, to protect the area's water and prime farmland is deep. Simcoe County council should not think they can force through this dump given this reality."

This morning, a non-violent and peaceful civil disobedience protest started that has blockaded the access road to the dump site in an attempt to stop the ongoing dewatering and construction of the landfill.

Barlow says, "Warden Tony Guergis and Simcoe County council can easily address this situation. They must stop any further construction and any dumping of garbage at the site, so as not to preempt a key resolution on the future of the dump that should be debated at their next council meeting on Tuesday August 25. A special session of council this week could address this escalating situation and better allow for the debate in late-August."

That resolution calls for a one-year moratorium on Site 41 to allow for an independent peer review of the study on the safety of the dump, meaningful public consultations, and an assessment of the dump on a fuller criteria of provincial regulations, laws and local impacts. There is a growing consensus among Simcoe County councilors - including those that have supported Site 41 - that this is a way forward.

"But if the construction continues at an accelerated pace and the garbage starts being trucked in before the councilors have the opportunity to debate this resolution, local democracy will not be well served," adds Barlow. "I call on the warden and Simcoe County council to address this situation by holding a special session of council to ensure that construction does not continue, and that all councilors, including those who have supported the dump but now support a one-year assessment period, are heard."

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For more information:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org.

Read more about Site 41 at www.canadians.org/water.