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THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2009 6 Distributed to every home in Acton and area, as well as adjoining communities. 373 Queen Street East, Unit 1 Acton, Ontario L7J 2N2 email: thenewtanner@on.aibn.com Mike OLeary Frances Niblock Angela Tyler Rebecca Ring Publisher Editor Ted Tyler Hartley Coles Editorial Contributors Advertising and Circulation Composing Marie Shadbolt Ken Baker(519) 853-0051 Fax: (519) 853-0052 Every effort will be made to see advertising copy, neatly presented, is correctly printed. The publisher assumes no financial responsibility for typographical errors or omissions in advertising, but will gladly reprint without charge that part of an advertisement in which an error may occur provided a claim is made within five days of publication. All articles, advertisements and graphic artwork appearing in The New Tanner is copyrighted. Any usage, reproduction or publication of these items, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the publisher of The New Tanner is a copyright infringement and subject to legal action. Science Matters By David Suzuki By David Suzuki with Faisal Moola Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. ~ Margaret Mead Anthropologist Margaret Meads words came to mind when I heard about a recent victory for the citizens of Tiny Township and surrounding communities in Sim- coe County, Ontario. The people banded together to stop a garbage dump from being built on one of the purest sources of water on the planet the Alliston aquifer, a sub- terranean lake that stretches from Georgian Bay to the Oak Ridges Moraine in southern Ontario. As well as being the source of drinking water for residents in the region, the aquifer provides cold water to the Wye River and sur- rounding wetlands. The river and wetlands, in turn, support important wildlife species, including many amphibians, song birds, and fish. Citizens in the area, including many First Nations, have argued for nearly 30 years that Simcoe County and the provincial govern- ment should explore other options to manage the regions garbage, such as composting programs, upgrades to existing landfills, and improved recycling. Despite those alternatives, local authorities and the Ontario Environment Ministry gave the go-ahead for a solid-waste landfill to be built in and on top of the Alliston aquifer, on a parcel of land known as Site 41. Its another clear example of our tendency to ignore the real costs of getting rid of our garbage. We cre- ate a lot of solid waste, greenhouse gas emissions, and other forms of pollution, and then we bury them in the ground, dump them into our waters, or pump them into the air and think we can forget about them. In doing so, we fail to take into ac- count the real value of the goods and services that nature provides. Site 41 became a flashpoint of conflict this summer when area residents peacefully blockaded the landfill site. As the blockade dragged on and the number of people (in- cluding elders) being hauled off to jail increased, the grassroots struggle to close Site 41 attracted the support of the grass-tops, powerful advocacy organizations and unions such as the Council of Canadians, the David Suzuki Foun- dation, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. I got involved, in part, because I was impressed by the organizing skills, courage, and dedication of the citizens of Tiny Township and local First Nations in trying to pro- tect our most precious resource, our drinking water. How this dump got approved in the first place boggles the mind. Experts believe that for the landfill to be built at Site 41, as much as 225 million litres of clean ground- water would have to be pumped out and disposed of before construc- tion. Over the life of the landfill, even more groundwater would have to be pumped out to maintain the dumps structural integrity. Con- cerns have also been raised about potential long-term engineering problems and landfill leakage that would contaminate the aquifer. Landfills are often the preferred solution for dealing with garbage because the costs appear low when compared to other methods of waste management and disposal. But they only seem low because we fail to include the very real costs that dumps incur when they degrade the natural services that watersheds, forests, and other eco- systems provide for our health and well-being like clean air, clean water, and healthy food. When these natural services are degraded by development activities such as landfills, they must be re- placed with expensive substitutes, such as water-filtration plants, dykes, and other engineering. The economic arguments against the Site 41 dump, with its potential to harm the local drinking-water sup- ply, should kill this landfill plan once and for all. In response to efforts of local citizens, the province and the gov- ernment in Simcoe County have approved a one-year moratorium on the Site 41 landfill so that fur- ther scientific assessments can be done. This shows that people who join together for a common cause really do have the power to affect the decisions of governments and corporations. The backhoes and other equip- ment at Site 41 are now silent, at least temporarily. Lets hope that the politicians continue to listen to the people of Tiny Township and work to find better ways to deal with our waste. Tiny Township sets example By Angela Tyler Dyno-mans turtle a puzzle Every once and a while you meet someone who is interest- ing yet somehow unexpectedly throws you a really big curve ball, as they say. This time it was a story that keeps you coming back for more. Friends of ours, the racer girl and her husband Dyno- man, added another dimension to our friendship. I always thought they were nice people with a nice family and well, basically good people, to have as friends. What I didnt real- ize was the depth of Dyno-man until I really started paying attention to his stories. Its hard to describe Dyno- man in mere words. He is more of a man you need to see to fully grasp. More than once I found myself watching him as it appears he is contemplating the world, yet at the same time carefully choosing his words and topics. There is a lot of thought and thoughts going through his head, Im sure. What threw me for the loop was that Dyno-man has a hobby or more-over a non- typical pet. Dyno-mans prized possession, besides his classic Harley Davidson snowmobile and a helmet he insists Peter Fonda wore in the classic movie Easy Rider, is his turtle Wag. Somehow, the man who can probably build a snow- mobile from a pile of scrap metal and make it travel 150 miles an hour can be captiv- ated himself by a turtle he has had for decades. Dyno-man can be sitting there in a conversation about anything and suddenly, all un- suspecting, find the perfect segue to insert a turtle fact or story. Even more amazing than his knowledge of turtles is how for some reason I, who have never had any real turtle curiosity, have started looking forward to the stories. The turtle, as they call her, has two homes. One home outside for summer and one inside, specially built. Not just a glass cage, inside for winter. From what I gather though, the turtle also has a little bit of at- titude. I personally think she is jealous of racer girl. Racer girl told the story of how she went and bought very expen- sive water plants for her winter home. Before she knew it the turtle had chopped the plants in half opting for the specially grown plants that Dyno-man had for her. Dyno-man seems to know exactly how the turtle is feel- ing. He sympathizes with her aging dilemmas noticing even the smallest of detail when she is sunning herself and maybe off from her normal stance. READY TO ROLL: Left to right, Cody, 12, Erika, 6, and Gabriel, 8, were waiting for the 8:13am bus to take them to Sacre Coeur school in Georgetown on the first day, Tuesday, September 8. - Marie Shadbolt photo Continued on Page 7