Plans to build hazardous waste incinerators in Kirkland Lake, Ontario and Sasolburg, Free State are facing vigilant opposition from both local and global communities - a testimony to the widespread citizens' condemnation of the polluting and wasteful disposal technology. Canadian and South African communities chosen as sites for the rotary kiln incinerators have joined hands with public interest groups in raising their objection to the highest levels. Timely support from the worldwide anti-incineration movement has been well received.

RESPECT THE NORTH

Over the last century and a half, our people have lost too much," said Grand Chief Carol McBride of the Algonquin Nation. "We are not willing to risk losing any more. We have aboriginal title to this land. It cannot be infringed upon. This project will never go ahead," declared the indigenous leader in a public rally held in a hockey arena in Ontario on 28 April 2002.

For the Northerners, which include many native First Nations, the Bennett incinerator proposal in Kirkland Lake is viewed as a direct assault against their health, environment, livelihood and sovereignty. Public Concern Temiskaming (PCT), a volunteer-driven pressure group, is mobilizing widely to protect current and future generations of the Artic North from being poisoned by the burning of PCB and dioxin-contaminated waste from across North America and the associated transportation risks. In a show of force, over 500 Northerners joined a massive convoy of about 300 cars on 16 June 2002 that stopped up traffic on the Trans Canada Highway to oppose the project.

PCT also opposes the planned expansion of Trans Cycle Industries in Kirkland Lake. Between the Bennett and Trans Cycle facilities, PCT estimates that there will be 30,000 trucks annually traveling the highway system to deliver the waste, and to haul the residual waste to secure landfill sites in Sarnia and Quebec. PCT complains that neither projects are being subject to public hearings or independent reviews of safety and health issues. If the projects get the go ahead it would mean Ontario highways would be faced with nearly half a million tons of toxic waste being shipped along the roads every year to be burned in Kirkland Lake. This poses a grave threat to the Temiskaming people's health and security and their C$100 million a year agricultural industry.

The Bennett proposal is currently undergoing an Environmental Assessment (EA). Under the rewritten EA rules brought in by the Tories in 1995, no public hearings are planned. No independent reviews will be conducted on company claims.

The Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) in a damning report criticized the scoped EA process. According to the report, Ontario's EA process has stripped the rights of citizens to determine the safety of toxic waste proposals.

Reacting to this flawed process, representatives from 80 public interest groups in 29 countries signed a petition to Premier Ernie Eves, circulated by the GAIA Secretariat, condemning the Ontario Conservative plan to open Northern Ontario up to PCB import and burning. The petition draws particular attention to the woeful state of Ontario's Environmental Assessment process.

Monica Wilson, spokesperson for the GAIA network, says the proposed Bennett incinerator is an issue that people everywhere need to be concerned about. "As a violation of the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) guidelines, and of basic common sense, we urge the Ontario government to turn down the application for the Bennett toxic waste incinerator.Instead of building new incinerators for toxic waste from other places, the government of Ontario should push for safer, non-incineration technology to treat PCBs and to prevent other toxic waste at the source."

Barb Bukowski of Public Concern Temiskaming said the international attention has been a real boost for northern residents. "We've been working full out to show this government that northern residents will not allow this project to go ahead. Having international support means a great deal to people here. The Ontario government has to be held accountable for their disgraceful record in protecting the health and environment of this province, said Bukowski.

For more information, log on to:
<http://members.fortunecity.com/toxic/> or
<http://www21.brinkster.com/nopcb/>

DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT

The proposed incinerator for stockpiled hazardous waste by Peacock Bay Environmental Services (PBES) has drawn strong criticisms from various stakeholders in South Africa and elsewhere. Environmental justice action groups and community associations are concerned that the project will only exacerbate the air pollution in Sasolburg, which is already causing serious health impacts due to citizens' long-term exposure to high levels of toxic pollutants in the environment.

"Since we first heard about the proposal we have been in continuous contact with the various decision makers pleading with them to oppose the project in favor of alternative technology which would not demand such high a cost to human health and the environment," said Linda Ambler of the environmental justice group groundWork. If approved, the incinerator will be the largest hazardous waste burner in South Africa and will open opportunities for hazardous waste to be imported for destruction in Sasolburg. Environmentalists also fear that it might set a precedent for the construction of more waste incinerators in the African continent, contrary to the purpose of the Stockholm Convention on POPs. waste incinerators in the African continent, contrary to the purpose of the Stockholm Convention on POPs.

In a submission made to the Ministry of Environmental Affairs and Tourism in May 2001, groundWork stressed that the government should take the lead in ensuring the safe treatment and disposal of the stockpiled POPs. "The South African government is abdicating its constitutional responsibilities to its citizens, as well as its international responsibilities by allowing the private sector to take the lead on this project in the pursuit of financial gain at the expense of human health and the environment," groundWork said.

In an unprecedented expression of concern, over a hundred environmental and civil society groups wrote an urgent appeal to President Thabo Mbeki on 9 May 2002 to reject the proposed incinerator. The groups, most of which are members of GAIA and the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), warned that incineration generates toxic by-products, among them the ultra-toxic dioxins and furans which have been linked to extensive health problems including cancer, birth defects, reproductive disorders and the suppression of the immune system which could accelerate the inception of full blown AIDS in people already suffering from HIV infection.

The groups also pointed out that dioxins travel vast distances and accumulate in the food chain. Their environmental and health effects may therefore extend well beyond Sasolburg and the whole of South Africa and even to neighboring African states. The groups appealed to the South African government to opt for alternative, non-combustion destruction technologies instead that do not generate POPs, in keeping with the pollution elimination objectives of the POPs treaty.

According to Bobby Peek of groundWork, "GAIA's support of local communities in South Africa has brought the anti-incineration struggle to the attention of our President Mbeki. Mr. Mbeki now knows the concerns of the people against incinerators, and we hope that his response will lead to a phase out of incinerators in South Africa."

Community leader Nicholas Kasa, Chairperson of the Sasolburg Environmental Committee (SEC), welcomed the initiative by GAIA to petition the South African authorities. "Their letter to Pres. Mbeki reinforces our legitimate opposition versus the PBES incinerator project. We are not alone in defending our constitutional right to a safe and healthy environment," he said.

Please see <www.groundwork.org.za> for additional information.