Vol. 11, No. 51 Wednesday, December 23, 1981 36 Pag In transformer.... PCBs R) E) If a fire ever broke out in the electrical room of Fairview Lodge, its residents and staff could be exposed to PCBs ac- cording to Regional Councillor Tom Ed- wards. Last week, Edwards told Whitby Town Coun- cil that the lodge's transformers have cool- ants containing poly- chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are be- lieved to cause cancer. "The old hydro station in the building's base- ment is using PCBs," he told council adding that the people would be "exposed to cancer caising agents" if a fire ever broke out there. The regional councill- or has expressed anger with statements made recently by Durham Regional Chairman Gary Herrema who said that the region could not afford the $3.5 million price tag to bring *the facility up to modern standards. Originally, the region's social services department had estimated the cost of repair at $2.4 million but in a recent report to the social services commi- ttee, that figure had jumped to $3.5 million. Fairview is the oldest of the region's three homes for the aged and currently has about 200 elderly residents. Social Services Commissioner Doug Johns attributed the jump to the "almost daily" increase in the cost of construction materials, labor, archi- tect's fees, etc. However, Johns said in his report that the re- pairs must be conduc- ted. Half of the cost to repair the home would be paid by the provin- cial government although no commit- ment from them has yet been made. Johns said that he is aware of the problem and that the replace- ment of the hydro sta- tion is a priority. The estimated cost of replacing the trans- former is $15,000 and he said it will be done "with or without" ap- proval for other needed improvements. Johns said the reason it was not replaced earlier is that it does not make sense to replace it and then have to recon- struct it again during the renovation process. While he admitted there is a danger from PCBs, Johns is confi- dent that should a fire break out in the home - even in the hydro station - the residents can be evacuated fast enough to avoid exposure. The commissioner also points ,out that the main fire hall of the Whitby Fire Depart- ment is close by and emergency vehicles can respond to the home in about three minutes. Many other officials, including lodge admini- strator Muriel Coates and Whitby Fire Chief Ed Crouch, have said they would like to see the PCBs removed from the home. However, it appears that regional council will not approve any ex- penditure to remove the transformer until the 1982 budget discussions which are due to begin sometime next month. At that time, regional council is also expected to deal with the $3.5 million renovation report. User rates up 14% The water and sewer user rate for residents of the Town of Whitby will increase by appro- ximately 14 per cent beginning January 1. That decision was made at a special meet- ing of Durham Regional Council held last week. However, the increase was not as bad as originally expected. Senior staff had recommended a 22 per cent increase but the politicians reduced it to 15 per cent two weeks ago and was reduced by a further percentage point last week. This means that in each quarter of 1982, the Whitby water and sewer user consuming an average of 50,000 gallons a year will pay about $44.50. This in- cludes about $18.66 for water and $25.90 for sewer. In 1981 the quarterly bill averaged $39.26 of which $18.04 was for water and $21.22 was for sewer. Aside from inflation, the major reasons for the increase include a conservation trend among consumers and the loss of a few major industrial users includ- ing General Motors of CONT'D ON PG. 19 .1 I ;es found at * * Faniew