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6- The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday June 27, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5567 Classified Advertising: 845-3824, ext. 224 Circulation: 845-9742 Editorial and advertising content of the Oakville Beaver is protected by copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited. THE OAKVILLE BEAVER IS PROUD OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR FOR: The Oakville Beaver is a division of IAN OLIVER Group Publisher Media Group Ltd. NEIL OLIVER Publisher JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director TERI CASAS Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution ALEXANDRIA CALHOUN Circ. Manager A waste of time? "We have to admit that... EFW (energy from waste) is off the table, period. We still have garbage problems and we have to deal with them." -- Halton Region Chair Pete Pomeroy, January 29, 1992 "This is not the time to do it." "Now is the time to focus on the other aspects of our Solid Waste Management Strategy that will reduce the amount of waste going to our landfill." -- Halton Region Chair Gary Carr, June 13 and 20, 2007 When Halton Region council voted unanimously last week to delay an energy-from-waste (EFW) proposal for at least five years, it indicated little has changed -- at least in the minds of our elected officials -- when it comes to EFW as a viable option to prolong the life of the region's landfill. However, in reaching that conclusion -- the same one reached 15 years earlier when EFW was last discussed -- residents were sent a confusing message. When the possibility of an EFW facility at the region landfill was raised last year, the spin coming from the region about EFW was positive, noting any emissions would be well within provincial guidelines and only the most modern pollution-control equipment would be used. Then-Regional Chair Joyce Savoline -- now the Burlington riding's provincial representative at Queen's Park -- proclaimed: "By implementing a made-in-Halton energy from waste (EFW) solution, Halton is in a unique and favourable position to become self-sufficient in managing our waste and controlling our destiny." Halton's Commissioner of Planning and Public Works Peter Crockett projected an EFW facility could be up and running by as early as 2010. By November, the region had issued a press release trumpeting results from a Toronto Star/Decima Research poll that said 89 per cent of local citizens thought the EFW concept was a winning one. "This poll shows that Halton was once again forward-thinking in how we plan on managing our waste," said Savoline. Environmental group Protect Our Water and Environmental Resources (POWER) -- which in recent months was the leading opponent of an EFW plant -- didn't muster much opposition to an EFW facility early on. Saying the group hadn't yet taken a position on EFW, last August POWER president Leslie Adams said, "It is something for me that would probably be OK in the mix." Today, regional council has no plan to revisit the EFW issue until 2012. Why, in a matter of months, did an EFW facility go from being touted by the region as a viable alternative to landfill to an idea not worth pursuing for at least another five years? It's quite possible the business case put forth by region staff on the hazards an EFW might pose was so compelling that councillors could no longer support the plan. Or perhaps our region's elected officials didn't want to handle such a political hot potato in these environmentally-conscious times. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The Oakville Beaver welcomes letters from its readers. Letters will be edited for clarity, length, legal considerations and grammar. In order to be published all letters must contain the name, address and phone number of the author. Letters should be addressed to The Editor, Oakville Beaver, 467 Speers Rd., Oakville, ON, L6K 3S4, or via e-mail to editor@oakvillebeaver.com. The Beaver reserves the right to refuse to publish a letter. Mom grateful for return of bracelet this bracelet was very sentimental and very expensive. My husband had just given it to me as a surprise gift two weeks ago. When I realized I had lost it I was devastated. I searched all day long in and around my house, in the Burlington football field where my son had a football game, at a friend's house BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com where we had visited. My kids and I were literally on our hands and knees in the grass. I thought it was gone forever. When I called Wal-Mart and they told me someone had turned in a bracelet I was blown away. I drove there shaking like a leaf with my I am pleading for your help in finding a person who turned in a lost bracelet at Wal-Mart on Saturday, June 23. They did not leave their name or contact information at customer service when they turned it in. I would like to personally thank this kind-hearted person because I don't know if they realized this or not, but kids. My kids -- seeing how upset I was all day -- had their fingers and toes crossed for me. When Faith at WalMart handed me my bracelet I broke down and cried. I could not believe that someone had turned it in. This experience has given me greater hope for humanity and I truly believe that we are so blessed to live in Oakville where wonderful people like this live. Please let your readers know that if they are the individual who did this very good deed to please contact me so I can personally thank them. MICHELE REIN Pud The Oakville Beaver is a member of the Ontario Press Council. The council is located at 80 Gould St., Suite 206, Toronto, Ont., M5B 2M7. Phone 416-340-1981. Advertising is accepted on the condition that, in the event of a typographical error, that portion of advertising space occupied by the erroneous item, together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged for, but the balance of the advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. The publisher reserves the right to categorize advertisements or decline.