Only Regional councillors vote to block reviews
Jan 29, 2010 - 10:59 AM
By Jennifer Stone
CLARINGTON -- The Municipality may ask the Region for more money -- beyond the $470,000 already spent -- for peer reviews of portions of the environmental assessment for the proposed Courtice incinerator.
Incinerator opponents say the document sent to the Province for approval, necessary before construction can begin, has been amended so dramatically since it was first submitted that further independent review is necessary.
But, Regional Chairman Roger Anderson said there have been only minor alterations since the document went to the Province for review. And he blames some of those asking for the review for delaying the process.
At issue is whether the environmental assessment has changed enough, as several opponents contend, to warrant further study to help protect Clarington.
"Clarington needs to undertake due diligence to ensure that its interests are protected," Dr. Debra Jefferson wrote to council.
Clarington was granted $500,000 to complete peer reviews of the documents before they were submitted to the Province and $470,000 of that has been spent, Regional Chairman Roger Anderson said.
"I don't want to know what they could want to do a peer review on," he said.
He contends little has changed in the documents contained in the assessment sent to the Province. The only reason for the extension requests from Durham and York, which are partnering on the project, was that more time was required to answer hundreds of questions put forward by those opposed to the incinerator, Mr. Anderson said.
But those questions were raised as a result of "many errors, inconsistencies and omissions" in the documents and the appendices, said incinerator opponent Linda Gasser.
"An expert peer review is necessary as would be any legal advice or an engineering review for any major project," she told Clarington council Monday. "It is prudent action you take routinely to inform yourselves and it is absolutely essential you do so with this complex and expensive project."
Council asked staff to look into what would be involved, including what it would cost, to complete further peer reviews. Only Regional Councillor Charlie Trim and Mayor Jim Abernethy opposed the idea.
As much as the incinerator could help with council's goal to shift the tax burden from residential ratepayers to the industrial and commercial side, that can't be the only consideration, Councillor Adrian Foster said.
"At the end of the day, the single most important concern we must have is for the health of our residents and the health of the environment," he said.
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