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WIN! Bill 32 passes second reading in the Ontario Legislature

On Thursday, November 20, 2009 Bill 32 passed second reading in the Ontario Legislature in a 40 to 11 vote. Bill 32 is critical because it proposes revocation of the Certificate of Approval needed for a landfill on the site to proceed. We will keep you posted on efforts to move the bill to committee and the date for the third and final reading of Bill 32.

WIN! Simcoe County Councillors vote for a permanent Site 41 moratorium!

On Tuesday, September 22, 2009 Simcoe County councillors voted 93-13 to cease construction and all further development of Site 41. This is a tremendous win to stop Site 41 (and it supersedes the one-moratorium) and has been acknowledged as a huge victory in our ongoing battle to protect water. Congratulations everyone!

WIN! Simcoe County Council votes for one-year moratorium on Site 41!
On Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Simcoe County councillors heard the echoes of opposition and protest that have resonated across the country and voted 22-10 in favour of a one-year moratorium for the controversial landfill known as Dump Site 41, which threatened to pollute the Alliston Aquifer. The decision will be followed by a future vote to scrap the project entirely and has been acknowledged as a huge victory in our ongoing battle to protect water. Congratulations everyone!

Read updates from the sessions on our campaign blog.


Photos September 22, 2009

Brent Patterson, Meera Karunananthan and Mark Calzavara (pictured below) visit the former Dump Site 41.

Photos August 25, 2009:

Unity flag

In the News

Victory at Site 41 Shows There Is No Water to Waste, Canadian Perspectives, Autumn 2009

We must all be stewards of water, Maude Barlow and Meera Karunananthan, Ottawa Citizen, September 10, 2009

Site 41 radio ads running on Simcoe County stations leading up to the August 25, 2009 council meeting:

No Water to Waste - the Fight to Stop Dump Site 41, Council Of Canadians Podcast, Rabble.ca, August 21, 2009.

Site 41 full-page newspaper ads calling for a one-year moratorium, August 11, 2009

2009 media releases:

Public rally on August 13
Why is Simcoe County building a dump site on pristine water?

A public rally in Toronto took place on Thursday, August 13. It featured several prominent speakers and was a key turning point in building momentum for a moratorium on controversial proposed dump Site 41 located near Midland on Georgian Bay. Farmers, seniors, students, First Nations members, cottagers, elected officials from the Ontario Conservatives and NDP united at the rally to call for an immediate halt to any and all Site 41 related construction.

FEATURED SPEAKERS: Dale Goldhawk (Emcee); Charlie Angus, Member of Parliament for Timmins–James Bay; David Crombie, Former Toronto Mayor, former Federal Cabinet Minister; Garfield Dunlop, MPP for Simcoe North; Andrea Horwath, Ontario NDP Leader; Sandy Hudson, University of Toronto Student Union President; Meera Karunananthan, Council of Canadians Water Campaigner; Vicki Monague, Spokesperson for The Anishinabe Women, Keepers of the Water from Christian Island; David Ladell, Spokesperson for the Federation of Tiny Township Shoreline Associations; Mary Muter, Georgian Baykeeper for Georgian Bay Forever; Stephen Ogden, Resident of Simcoe County and member of the Community Monitoring Committee; and Keith and Ina Wood, arrested for protecting the water at Site 41.

What is the County of Simcoe Landfill Site 41?
It's the world's cleanest water in peril

Dump Site 41 sits immediately atop the pristine Alliston Aquifer - an essential source of fresh water for farms, people, communities, and nature reserves which drains into Georgian Bay. In 1976, The Alliston Aquifer was the first groundwater complex to be mapped by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, based on its "major extent and significant potential for development". It extends from Georgian Bay and beneath Lake Simcoe. The aquifer is thought to continue south of the protected Oak Ridges Moraine. The preservation of the aquifer is important since it is used as a primary water source by numerous municipalities and also discharges into creeks and rivers which eventually flow into Georgian Bay, Lake Simcoe, Lake Scugog and Lake Ontario.

Following two decades of protest against the building of a dump site on top of Alliston Aquifer, First Nations and Simcoe County community members are unconvinced that this precious resource should be destroyed and rallied to support the call for a moratorium on the construction. On Tuesday, August 25 Simcoe County councillors heard the echoes of opposition and protest that have resonated across the country and voted 22-10 in favour of a one-year moratorium for the controversial landfill known as Dump Site 41, which threatened to pollute the Alliston Aquifer. The decision will be followed by a future vote to scrap the project entirely and has been acknowledged as a huge victory in our ongoing battle to protect water.

Council of Canadians' chairperson Maude Barlow is a staunch supporter of the campaign to Stop Dump Site 41. “Water, in my opinion, is the single most important environmental and human-rights threat of our time, and while millions around the world are dying and going thirsty, Simcoe County is about to violate this unique and precious Canadian aquifer.” Below are some of the reasons she and so many others are opposed to Dump Site 41.

  1. Scientists have referred to the pristine artesian aquifer in the area as one of the cleanest sources of freshwater in the world, comparable to ancient arctic ice. The water is so clean it can be used as a benchmark for gauging the purity of other water around the world.

  2. There is widespread resistance to the proposed dump site within the communities around the aquifer. The citizens and First Nations of Simcoe County are demanding that the County explore other options to manage waste by implementing waste reduction strategies, upgrading existing landfills, and recycling recyclable products lying in older landfills.

  3. The native peoples have not been adequately consulted about the development of a garbage dump known as Site 41 in the territories of Georgian Bay and the Ojibwe, Chippewa, Metis, Wendat (Huron) and Mohawk Nations.

  4. Several sources, including Environment Canada, agree that Canada is on the brink of a freshwater crisis. It is important that we make the protection of freshwater sources – not the placement of new landfills – our first priority.

  5. All life drinks from the springs that will be drained: beavers, bears, wolves, deer, foxes, coyotes, turkeys, eagles, ducks and many others. Draining the aquifer at Site 41 will affect the Wye River and Wye Marsh – an important bird sanctuary in Ontario. Your government must assess the impacts on the entire ecosystem that draining this crucial water supply will have.

  6. Building a dump site on a pristine aquifer fundamentally contradicts the Ontatio government's stated goal of moving the province "toward a zero-waste future."

See Site 41 timeline on stopdumpsite41.ca

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updated November 20, 2009
 
 
 

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