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My View: The community that could
Newsletter
Community Alert!
St Marys Cement continues their PR Campaign.
St Marys Cement public relations launch has been so smooth it's been almost imperceptible. That's because it's operating just below radar. It's a campaign to soothe us as individuals, and to avoid confrontation with informed opposition. Their recent announcement of a "Community Open House" this Thursday August 17th is the latest ploy.
When FORCE asked to meet with St Marys' company representatives we were told that they weren't ready yet, that they needed time to formulate their plans, that there was no new information available to discuss.
When Councillor McCarthy contacted St Marys and requested their participation in a Public Meeting that she is holding in late September they declined. They indicated that this wasn't the kind of event that they wanted to participate in; instead they wanted to meet with people in small groups.
This approach allows St Marys to avoid the tough issues and challenging questions. As a Community we have had over two years to explore and research the facts of this situation. We have invested our time and money to have these issues professionally presented by experts. Our concerns as a Community are clearly documented on our website.
St Marys seems to want to ignore the facts. They want to get us alone, one on one, and convince us with a lot of smooth words that they intend to be a good neighbour.
Well, the Community won' t be fooled by such an approach. Aggregate extraction is not a benign rural activity, nor is it temporary. It can:
- dry up wells
- produce noise and dust that negatively impacts human health,
- introduce fast moving, slow stopping transport trucks on our rural roads,
- remove arable land from the production of food - forever,
- destroy pristine natural features and dewater wetlands, and
- devalue properties for generations.
These are issues that need to be debated in the open so that all points of view may be fully aired and explored. That kind of openness and transparency would be the hallmark of a good neighbour.
FORCE will have representatives attend the Open House and we will report back to the Community with what we have heard. If you wish to attend for yourself here once again are suggested questions for St Marys:
- How specifically would you plan to manage the safety of our water supply, both the quantity and the quality, when drilling and blasting will take place below the water table, and millions of gallons of water will be impacted daily by the proposed operation?
- How would you prevent industrial waste and accidental spills of oil and gasoline from leaking into our aquifer?
- How specifically would you prevent damage to a designated natural heritage site and environmentally sensitive area?
- How would you maintain current ecological corridors and wetlands?
- How would you protect the community's health and farmers' crops from rock dust?
- How would you mitigate the effects of noise along the haul routes from transport trucks?
- How would you manage the noise from blasting and industrial machinery?
- How would you protect home foundations from the effects of blasting?
- How would you protect the market value of our homes and farms?