Letter to Minister of Environment Regarding PCB Dump
Good Afternoon
As many of you may have read in the Toronto Star over the weekend, Alderwood is currently housing one of the 23 PCB dumps in Ontario. Many of you have expressed concern over this site, regretfully the City of Toronto has no jurisdiction in this matter.
Here is what we know about the stored PCBS.
o The mound has been there for 22 years & there are 23 similar sites across the province, The manufacture and sale of PCBs was banned across North America in the late 1970s
o the site is encased in three layers of geosynthetic membrane, a durable plastic liner that doesn’t degrade when exposed to soil or harsh weather. There’s also an active pump-and-treat system at the site for groundwater protection, as well as a clay barrier along the eastern boundary to protect against off-site contamination.
o Existing Federal regulations passed two years ago called for the elimination of PCB dumps by Dec. 31, 2011 to destroy the PCBs, either by removal or using use new technologies to destroy them ( thus reducing the travel through local neighbourhoods. )
o Schneider Electric is responsible for the PCB soil dump in Alderwood.
o Two enforcement officers from Environment Canada inspected the site in mid-February, and requested submission of plans for the PCB soils.
o As well the site is monitored regularly by Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment which to ensure it is safely contained.
o Councillor Grimes and the City of Toronto expect the Federal Government to enforce the regulations which require the elimination of the stored PCBs, either through safe cleaning or removal by Dec 31, 2011.
The removal of the contaminated soil is under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government – your member of parliament is the Honourable Michael Ignatieff - email ignatm1@parl.gc.ca
The Ministry of the Environment for the provincial government monitors this site regularly your member of provincial parliament is the Honourable Laurel Broten email broten.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
In regards to what we are doing, Councillor Grimes has expressed his concerns in writing to the Minister ,The Honourable Jim Prentice Minster of the Environment of Canada. You can find a copy of the letter to the Minister below.
You can also express your concerns to the Minister. Tel.: 819-997-1441 Fax: 819-953-0279 Email: Minister@ec.gc.ca Address: Les Terrasses de la Chaudière, 10 Wellington Street, 28th Floor, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 0H3.
The company managing the site is Schneider Electric their contact info is:19 Waterman Avenue Toronto, ON M4B 1Y2 Tele: (416) 752-8020 Fax: (859)334-9948
Please be assured that Councillor Grimes is also raising his five children in the Alderwood Neighbourhood. so he is also looking forward to the removal of these contaminants from our community by December 2011,but he is also confident that they are currently contained.
