[All] Super event!

[Susan Koswan]

It was Lulu. Well done and a big thank you to you for bringing this issue to
our attention and organizing it. This is a landmark case that can have very
far-reaching impacts on industrial pollution. I've sent Justin an email this
morning with a few ideas and questions about how we can broaden the support
by bringing in other communities affected by industrial pollution. The
Aamjiwnaang may be the worst, but they are not alone in being affected by
toxic industrial trespass.   

 

Susan K

 

From: all-bounces at gren.ca [mailto:all-bounces at gren.ca] On Behalf Of
Louisette Lanteigne
Sent: April-07-11 12:24 AM
To: all at gren.ca
Subject: [All] Super event!

 

Hi folks

I just wanted to send my thanks to all the folks who came out this evening
for the Pollution Vs. Human Rights event, I thank John for hosing and I'd
like to thank GREN executives for making this event possible. Our guests
gave excellent presentations that touched upon so many issues. Some of the
highlights include the following points:

-There is no expiration on pollution emission permits.
-There is no consideration given to cumulative impacts when several permits
are issued within the same area.
-The province does not keep records on what activities they have permitted.
When concerns arise, it's up to each company to present their permit.
-The province states they have no jurisdiction on aboriginal lands because
it's a Federal Issue.
-The Federal government doesn't get involved in emission concerns on
reserves because they state it is a Provincial concern.
-In cases of illegal dumping, neither the Federal Government nor the
Province gets involved because it's on aboriginal lands. This means
aboriginal communities are basically left to fend for themselves. This
complicates issues regarding who's duty it is to clean up environmental
spills etc.
-The placement of factories appears to be situated in a location which
exploits the fact the adjacent lands are home to aboriginal communities.
(Less constraints because their neighbours downwind are not living on either
Federal nor Provincial lands)
-The permits are not subject to planning legislation because they are often
signed by ministers in processes that exclude public participation. It is
literally between industry and government. No public say.
-Because lands are designated industrial, there are no planning processes
for expansion of projects in these areas. 
-They have used the Environmental Bill of Rights to secure a request for
review but their process has taken two years so far without any tangible
results. 
-Ada Lockridge and Ron Plain are the only two members of the community
spearheading this effort. The rest of the community cares of the issue but
feel torn by the fact that so much of the area relies on the refineries for
their jobs and pensions. Because many worked for the companies they bought
into the corporate rhetoric that everything is fine, that the problems are
taken care of. 
-The processes being done at the refineries adjacent to their reserve,
includes the removal of sulfate from gas products. Instead of allowing
sulfate to burn out of tailpipes, they simply discharge it into the air in
large volumes at this location instead.
-The toxicity of the refineries increases during times of power outages
because the protective filtration systems won't function without
electricity.

I had taken a couple of group shots of the guest speakers but when I got
home, my data card malfunctioned and I lost the photos. I was able to see
the photo on my camera but when I tried to copy them it appeared as an empty
file then I wasn't able to find them again.  None the less,  if anyone else
took photos that evening, please forward them along to me. 

Thanks!

Lulu :0)




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