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Grew faces uncertain future by Scott Anderson Staff Writer As a result of financial problems over the past few months, local boat manufacturer ACF Grew has laid off its hourly employees. "Tt's a result of our money situation,"' said Hot trip Black smoke rose out of Penetang harbor Sunday at 1:20 p.m. after an explosion and fire on this Starcraft aluminum boat. The craft had just been refueled at Bay Moor- David Avard, controller. "We ran into some financial problems a few months ago." It was due to this that the local boat manufacturer gradually laid off all its hour- ly employees. All that remains at work is ap- proximately 30 salaried employees. Officials at Grew are awaiting a decision ings. When its owner, Dr. R.T. Call, tried to start it there was an explosion. The boat was pushed off the dock into the open water and later towed by another boat from two groups which have expressed in- terest in the struggling firm. Although Avard could not reveal the names of either com- pany, he described one company as "a strong player in the industry" and the other as "a diversified investment firm" which has in- terests in many industries. towards the shore to accomodate firefighters. The craft is a complete writeoff. There were no injuries. PCBs are stored at site in Penetanguishene by Scott Anderson Staff Writer ' At least four local companies, including Ontario Hydro, are known to be storing PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl). The companies, listed by the Ministry of Environment, include Indusmin and Waltec Sinkware in Midland, The Cargill Grain Co. (formerly Maple Leaf Mills) in Port McNicoll and Ontario Hydro in Tay Township. Bob Richmond, environment superinten- dent for Ontario Hydro's Georgian Bay Region, says there are two PCB sites in the area - one in Penetang and another in Waubaushene. Both these sites have been there for a number of years, he says. Richmond says both sites contain small amounts of PCBs. The Waubaushene site has approximately 3,000 litres of PCB at low levels, with 10 barrels of capacitors contain- ing high levels. According to Richmond, Waubaushene is an interim site where the PCB is first stored after coming in from the field. A transformer is tested for PCB content and, if it proves positive, is stored at the site in tight con- tainers, where it is tested monthly. Richmond hopes to have both sites decon- taminated in a few years, when Hydro's $500,000 decontamination unit is able to come to the area. "Because there is so much demand for the mobile unit, I don't expect to have that unit up here for two to three years," he said. Richmond says they hope to have every PCB storage site treated within a five-year period. Indusmin, another local industry known to be keeping PCBs on site, has only minor levels of the contaminant, containing close to 50 parts per million, according to Archie Campbell, plant manager. It is contained in a few drums according to government regulations. The PCB, used for cleaning purposes at the plant, is checked and labelled by the Ministry of the Environment. There are no plans to move it at the pre- sent time, says Campbell. "If we could move it off the property we would, but we can't do that," he says. "As soon as there is a system to move it off the site we will." Both Waltec Sinkware and Cargill Grain refused comment on the matter at the present time. The federal government announced a plan last week to end the use of PCBs within five years. Avard could not predict how many of the laid off workers would return once an anouncement was made, noting the decision of the company's direction would be left up to the new investor. He was confident, however, the facilities would not close and that production would begin again shortly. "It's contingent on an investor putting money into the company," he said. Despite recent financial woes, Avard said it was necessary to begin production again as soon as possible in order to "wet the de- mand of the dealers."' An announcement will be made shortly concerning the current negotiations with the groups. Union representative Joe Papaleo was meeting with union officials today and chose not to comment until after the meeting. Municipal Election Gi Brasher seeks second term to fight Site 41 The deputy reeve of Tiny Township will stand for re-election this fall. Dr. Peter Brasher, 64, announced on Fri- day that he has decided after much con- sideration to seek a second term. At one point, Brasher considered running for reeve. But after learning that Morris Dar- by would pursue that position again, he declined. Brasher said he never expected he'd want to serve more than three years on Tiny coun- cil. The main reason he will run again is his deep opposition to the construction of a : dump at Site 41, the preferred choice of the North Simcoe Waste Manage- ment Association. Brasher has been a constant critic of both the association and the use of Site 41's prime agricultural land for a dump Se site. 'I can think of no other way to Br ash er describe what they want to do to that land than to call it a disaster," he said. "I can't find words that are strong enough to carry the weight of my op- position. It would be a fundamental bit of fol- ly to put a landfill site there. Choosing Site 41 against Tiny's wishes is insulting." Brasher said he couldn't leave politics at such a crucial time, just as the 30-day review period for the dump has begun. Public hear- ings are not far away. "IT promised in the last election to oppose Site 41. That's the only promise I made. I'm going to keep on opposing it," said the deputy reeve. Brasher is also committed to full implemen- tation of the Woods Gordon report, which recommends sweeping changes at the township's office and the reorganization and rationalization of the municipalilty's internal functioning. It was a controversial plan when it was released this spring, but Brasher feels the ideas are sound and should be pursued with more energy. Before his retirement three years ago, Brasher was a surgeon at the Huronia District Hospital and had operated in the area since 1956. He is still a member of the hospital's board. For the past four months, the deputy reeve has devoted time to the Penetang Harbor Committee. He was instrumental in prepar- ing a bylaw to temporarily freeze marina development in Tiny Township. "T']l make no promises. I'll make policy," Brasher said.