Protest of proposed dump site 41 by First Nation and supporters successful in moratorium
One-year halt ordered for Simcoe County dump site - Proposed landfill sits on top of aquifer, opponents argue
Aug 25, 2009 - Gail Swainson, Staff Reporter
MIDHURST – Simcoe County councillors voted this afternoon in favour of a one-year moratorium on the controversial development of the "Site 41" garbage dump in Tiny Township northwest of Barrie.
Pressure had been building on the councillors to halt the development over fears it would contaminate an underground reservoir that scientists say provides some of the cleanest drinking water in the world.
"I knew we were going to get it," said Tiny township Mayor Peggy Breckenridge after the 22-10 vote at Simcoe County Council in favour of a one-year moratorium on the 20.7-hectare garbage facility.
"Now comes the next step, and that will be to kill Dump Site 41."
In the past few months, widespread support for a one-year moratorium had zoomed, with a growing list of celebrity opponents joining the cause. Everyone from U.S environmental activist Ralph Nader – who visited Site 41 two weeks ago and wrote Premier Dalton McGuinty to voice his opposition – to Canada's UN water czar Maude Barlow and former Toronto mayor David Crombie, to local residents, politicians, trade unionists and First Nations people has called on the county to take a second look before opening the dump site.
"Site 41 should be scrapped because it is sitting atop a large and pristine aquifer that must at all costs be protected, " said Barlow, Canada's first senior adviser on water to the United Nations president.
Dump critics launched a sophisticated public relations campaign, including a radio ad blitz and blanket emails in the days leading to today's county council meeting.
In the past few weeks, five of the county's 16 municipalities, including Barrie, have thrown their support behind a moratorium with a one-year fact-finding plan.
The dump site decision passed by a single vote in 2007.
Critics said their protests largely fell on deaf ears until just a few months ago, when a group of women from Beausoleil First Nation, on nearby Christian Island, set up an encampment in a field directly across the road from Site 41's main gates.
The peaceful, minimalist protest quickly attracted attention.
In late June, protesters blockaded Site 41's three gates barring workers prepping the site for its fall opening. Dozens blocked the gates with lawn chairs, tarps and a fatigue-dressed mannequin dubbed Erin Brockovich, after the U.S. environmental activist who uncovered how cancer-causing Chromium 6 moved from a plant to groundwater in and around Hinkley, Calif.
After several weeks, Simcoe County took them to court, getting an interim injunction ordering the illegal blockade to disband. Since then, 16 protesters have been charged with mischief.
Last week, neighbouring landowners reported their well water had gone murky, which they claim is the fault of a process that pumps groundwater out of the site, thereby depleting area wells.