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Extend berm test: resident At a Town public meeting Monday night, the president of a Thickson Point residents' group repeated his request for an extension, to two years, of the LASCO test berm made up of the by-product of its' new car shredder operation. Warren Brailsford said he feels that the Thickson Point com- munity is "defmnitely in danger" from airborne particles which escape from the operation, despite assurances given at the meeting by a LASCO official that a cover would be constructed, if neces- sary, to prevent particles from leaving the LASCO property. Lawyer David. Sims, repre- senting Lake Ontario Steel Co Ltd., also noted that an envi- ronmental assessment hearing would bè held on the waste by-product ( glass,-foam rubber, leather, plastic, fibregass) berm, although probably not before the fall. LASCO has applied to the Town and Region for an amendment to allow the indus- trial accessory use. Water is being pumjed throughi the berm to accelerate the test process, planned to continue for one year. Presentations were given by consultants retained by LASCO to outline the engineering design and landscaping of -the berm and the site suitability as well as hydrogeological testing to assess chemical leaching. Paul Bowen, president of Terraprobe Ltd. consulting engin- Avisit0to Q uest sShool ~I See eers and hydrologists, said the location for the berm, at the south portion of the LASCO property about 500 feet from Lake Ontario, was a "good site" because groundwater movement (to the south and west) was slow through what is a dense mixture of clay and soil. He also pointed out the trench excavation and leachate collection system that make the site "suitable for construction of tbis berm." Alwyn Huigens of Totten Sims Hubicki Associates outlined the storm water management of the berm to contain and test all rainfall runoff. Separation berms are put inside and outside the sbredder by-product berm area while the trench, about 1.2' SEE PAGE 22 BY DEBBIE LUCHUK The Durham Region separate school board will not send existing students of St. Paul's school in Whitby to an Oshawa school next year, after parent pressure to keep their children in St. Paul's. 'We are not dealing with packages, we are dealing with children," parent Margaret Clay told the board before it reached a decision Monday night. "The board is stressing commodities, not children."· She was one of a large group of parents who were present when the board deliberated the transfer of students from overcrowded St. Paul's to St. Michael's schoo in Oshawa. There are now 852 students at St. Paul's and several portables house the overflow. Projections for population growth in the area served by the school were for further overcrowding unless a solution was found, and the transfer of students to St. Michael's, which recently had a $2.5-million addition, -was originally proposed by the board planning department as a solution.. Planner Gerry O'Neill had outlined three possible boundary changes for St. Paul's at a Jan. 21 information session held in Whitby as a solution to the problem. Parents hotly opposed, the boundary change options to send their children to Oshawa. At the meeting, a resident. suggested a plan that would allow for "grandfathering" of children now attending St. Paul's, while all future students, including those in new subdivisions, would go to St. Michael's until such time as they can be transferred to St. Barnard school (yet to be built). Durham police charge 36 for indecent acts A 19-year-old Whitby man is among 36 people charged with indecent acts following a video surveillance by Durham Regional Police of a public washroom at The Bay in the Oshawa Shopping Centre. 'The investigation also led to charges against three Oshawa youths for possession of narcotics. According to police, The Bay had been aware that sexual acts between male parties were taking place in the - public washroomof their store for some time. The Bay contacted police for assistance after repeated warn- ings and signs were ignored. Superintendent Doug Bulloch says The Bay set up its own cameras but the men would simply walk under them. "Our cameras could not be seen," says Bulloch. The investigation began on March 7 and ended on March'16. "There are other public washrooms in which similar acts SEE PAGE 22 Based on the input of residents, the board adopted that option Monday night. Clay presented the final summation of parents' concerns before the decision was made., She appealed to the board to think of the children, not money or politics. "Our children have rights also. They are emotionally affected (by this) and I wonder what they would say if they were here tonight." She pointed out that many of the children's elder siblings had attended the same SEE PAGE8 Rowell becomes second candidate in east ward Cathy Rowell has become the second candidate for Whitby's east ward seat in the November municipal election. Former president of the Bellwood Home and School Association and now president of the Dr. Robert Thornton Home and School Association, Rowell founded the Education Action Committee last year and was vice president. Dennis Fox, who was president of the committee until resigning after a disagreement over the use of an EAC photo in a Progressive Conservative party advertisement for last year's provincial election, had previously announced he .would run for the east ward seat. Councillor Joe Drumm, longtime representative of the east ward, has decided to instead seek one of the Whitby seats on Durham regional council. Rowell announced her candidacy at her Kirby Cres. home on. March 20, a "iickoff meeting" attended by about 60 supporters, inciding members of the Durham Centre Conservative association. Rowell says education, lack of recreational facilities, environ- ment, Sunday shopping, Whitby General Hospital and taxes are issues of "major concern" in Whitby. Rowell says that while rapid growth in Whitby offers opportunities, she is "determined to ensure that the reasons that SEE PAGE 8 CATHY ROWELL Newschoolopens, PRINCIPAL JEAN FROLICK by. About 350 students now attending welcomes students to the new Bellwood the school had been at three different public school that opened Tuesday locations in Whitby. morning on Bellwood Dr. in east Whit- Free Press photo. Students wil sta atPaul's