Fighting for Aquifers

Site 41 in the distance. The mannequin has been dubbed "Erin Brockovich." (Credit: Kerry Freek)

“In the farming communities of the Simcoe Lowlands surrounding Elmvale, Ontario, pure spring water emanating from artesian flows is cause for celebration, and a unique opportunity for environmental education,” wrote Dr. William Shotyk last year. “How many people on Earth have the tremendous fortune of water resources of this quality, literally bubbling out of the ground around them?”

This past Saturday, CWT took a trip to Elmvale to take part in the second annual Elmvale Water Festival, a community celebration of the area’s pristine resource.

Celebration, music and education aside, a dark cloud hangs over Elmvale and nearby Tiny Township—many of its citizens are fighting to keep the Site 41 landfill from happening right on top of the aquifer that feeds its artesian flows. The reason? Leachate and toxins from the landfill may contaminate this water, MacDonald Creek and Georgian Bay.

We talked with Dr. Shotyk, president of the Elmvale Foundation, who told us that recently the water in nearby wells had, for the first time since he began testing there five years ago, begun to show signs of environmental distress—possibly as a result of the construction at Site 41.

After speaking with exhausted yet passionate local resident and Stop Dump Site 41 champion Stephen Ogden, it became clear that there’s a great deal of research and investigation involved in this protest. Ogden is a self-described “digger”—he’s spent his life solving water problems, and now he’s investing time in examining all aspects of the site.

More details from Site 41.

“The negative effects of Dump Site 41 on the MacDonald Creek were never considered during the environmental assessment hearings because the proponent was able to argue that the dump would never leak,” Ogden claims in a press release from July 13. “Even if we accept that the dump won’t leak, which I do not, the County’s plan is to collect the leachate and truck it to a sewage plant for treatment—but the plant is not capable of removing the most toxic elements and so they will be discharged into Georgian Bay.”

Women from the Beausoleil First Nation have been protesting the site for over three months. “We will continue to maintain a peaceful presence at Site 41 until it is stopped permanently,” says Vicki Monague of the Anishinabe Kweag, calling the project “reckless.”

Now the protest is bringing out the big guns. Maude Barlow, UN Senior Water Advisor, has spoken out against the project. And a few weeks ago, Ralph Nader visited the site and protesters, expressing his support for a one-year moratorium, citing several questions regarding the environmental impact of the landfill. He sent a letter to Ontario Premier McGuinty on August 21.

If the furor at Site 41 isn’t an argument for a zero-waste policy, groundwater protection and a national water strategy, it’s at least an argument for proactive decisions. If we’ve learned anything from Walkerton and Shannon, it’s that we should not be waiting until a moment of crisis to find solutions for our problems. The people in Elmvale are fighting for the future—whether they win or not, that’s an encouraging first step.

Watch for a letter regarding Site 41 from Andrea Horwath, leader of Ontario’s NDP party, in our September/October issue.

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