Flat Bay area not a good site for regional
Letters to the editorDear Editor,
In the June 17-23 edition of the Georgian, a story entitled "Site near Flat Bay favoured for regional dump" has prompted a few phone calls my way, on this important issue.
As we all know, the town of Flat Bay has no mayor or town council, they sur-vive by their own wits. One person whom I have spoken to made it clear that this area in question is their watershed area and no dump site should be allowed there.
A regional dump site with garbage coming in from every little town to be buried on land that has not yet been contaminated, has to raise a lot of questions. And if it went to the public for comment they would certainly get an earful.
We don't have to go very far to see what damage has already been done. The Americans left behind tons of garbage near our watershed area. How many mistakes do people have to make before they leam something? Flat Bay has no real pollutants. People live mostly the ways that they always have. For this area to become (or even for there to be talk about putting) a dump site there, regardless of the cost or the employment of maybe a few jobs, does not justify the possible long term effect of a regional dump, near a watershed area, and the effect it could have on people's wells.
The poisoning of our land has to stop. Put those regional dump sites out of harm's way, not in the entrance to a community that I am sure will be an attraction for many black bears and unwanted rodents such as dump rats, that will eventually find their way into the community.
Caution needs to be given when projects of this magnitude are put to the newspapers first, without getting the community that should have first been informed of any intent of a regional dump being put into their back yard.
The people I have spoken to on this issue are indeed upset at the way things are happening, reading about it in the newspaper before it went to them. This has some people of Rat Bay wondering what will be next and what kied homework has been done if any on this issue, before it went public, pertaining to the watershed area.
I want to make something clear to those of you who read my letters on environmental issues. I hold no malice towards anyone or any company. My serious concerns are for Mother Earth and the poisoning she has endured. If we continue the poisoning and not look back at the mistakes of our past, our children, and their children will never enjoy the things that we have.
To those of you who have called me over the years and expressed your concerns to me, today I want to thank you for making me feel not alone, on this issue and others.
We all must in some small way do our best to protect what we have, because I strongly feel that the poisoning of our environment has to stop. Again I want to thank you all.
Frank Russell
Stephenville
Source:
The Georgian Newspaper, Stephenville, NL., July 8-14, 2003
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