OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, April 24, 2009 · 6 OPINION & LETTERS The Oakville Beaver 467 Speers Rd., Oakville Ont. L6K 3S4 (905) 845-3824 Fax: 337-5571Classified 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: NEIL OLIVER Vice President and Group Publisher of Metroland West The Oakville Beaver is a division of Media Group Ltd. DAVID HARVEY General Manager JILL DAVIS Editor in Chief ROD JERRED Managing Editor DANIEL BAIRD Advertising Director RIZIERO VERTOLLI Photography Director SANDY PARE Business Manager MARK DILLS Director of Production MANUEL GARCIA Production Manager CHARLENE HALL Director of Distribution SARAH MCSWEENEY Circ. Manager Time to clean up A sure sign of spring's arrival is when the snow melts and the fields of Oakville are suddenly filled with unsightly debris and litter that was once covered by snow. This week we received several letters from residents complaining about this annual phenomenon. They wonder how people can be so lazy and thoughtless about the environment and the surrounding neighbourhoods. Fortunately, this annual phenomenon is countered by another spring tradition that is now in its 18th year -- the Earth Week Clean Up. Organized by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, the Earth Week Clean Up is this Saturday at 34 sites across Oakville, where neighbours, friends and community groups join together to remove unsightly garbage and debris from fields and parks. Gloves and green garbage bags are provided by the Town of Oakville. In addition to the sites across Oakville, students are encouraged to clean up their school yards during Earth Week. This year, 11 schools are officially registered for the Earth Week Clean Up. But they aren't the only ones pitching in to clean up Oakville. On Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, several local businesses excused their staff for an hour or more to clean up their neighbourhoods. Also, today at 2 p.m. thousands of people will be joining the Town's "20-Minute Oakville Makeover," a town-wide litter pickup, which sees participants picking up garbage around their workplace, school or home. This is the fifth year of the event, which recorded 11,000 participants in 2008. Finally, while we salute everyone who takes part in these worthwhile annual cleanup projects, we would be remiss in not chastising those who make them necessary in the first place. While it may be impossible to completely eradicate litter, it's not asking much for people to be more considerate of their surroundings before they pollute the environment with unsightly garbage. 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. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Power plant should be built on old Lakeview generating site Four proponents have prepared plans to install and operate a 900 MW, gas-powered generator to supplement power to the electrical grid. The tender process defined the general area to be used, resulting in three sites in western Mississauga and one in eastern Oakville. I attended the public presentation session by Trans Canada, for the Oakville site, and reviewed the pamphlet supplied by OPA, (the Ontario Power Authority). In that pamphlet is the statement: "In July 2008 Minister George Smitherman ended Mississauga's Lakeview Generating Station's role in electricity generation, and in doing so reclaimed a portion of the waterfront for future generations." I am convinced that an unbiased review of the optimum location for additional power generation would conclude it should be installed on the Lakeview generating plant site. Consider: · There is room on the site for at least two of the relatively small gas generating units, leaving ample lakefront for public use. · The site is, obviously, zoned for the use and is surrounded by industrial zones. · The prevailing westerly winds would take whatever pollution results, both gaseous and thermal, over the lake much of the time. · The noise output, if as minimal as advertised, would hardly be noticeable since it would be masked by the shoreline wave sounds. · If the operator paid rent for the location, (retaining public ownership for the long term), the income could be used to offset whatever public programs developed for the shoreline. · The transmission line corridor from Lakeview to the main line is established. · That decision would have avoided the significant costs that four contenders are incurring for securing land options and public hearings. As noted, with present technology, power generation on the site and public access to the lake front are not mutually exclusive. The citizens of western Mississauga and eastern Oakville deserve a better explanation than Smitherman's simple statement. J. T. REID Pud BY STEVE NEASE snease@haltonsearch.com This week's poll This week's question is: Do you agree with the Ontario government's ban on the cosmetic use of pesticides? · Yes · No To vote, visit oakvillebeaver.com. 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. 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