WHIITBY FREE PRESS. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 19tX PAGE 5 "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." - Thomas Jefferson Advise and Dissent Hours after Lynde House was moved, the Town fenced off the site and put up a sign declaring it an "Archeaological Site". Don Brown was employed by the Town as a consulting archaeologist and since this was of personal interest to myself as well as being news, I visited the site and talked to him on several oc- casions over the following weeks. We were able to discuss his findings in the context of my knowledge of the site and on page 10 is a photo feature on the "cdig". Archeologists rarely find much of great monetary value and indeed most of what they find, the broken dishes, bottles, and animal bones, are our ancestors garbage. It was fascinating to watch Brown pick up a fragment of bone and describe it as "part of the femur of a pig" and pointing to a cut on the bone, "it was butchered". Later, he picked through a pile of broken china fragments and pulled two pieces out which fit together - the beginning of a reconstruction. But even more fascinating was his ability to see lines in the soil where things used to be. Any organic material even after it has totally rotted away will leave a stain which to the experienced eye can be identified. The most interesting stains were the plough marks running across the undisturbed sandy subsoil beneath the rock foundation of the fireplace and chimney stack. Here the original topsoil had been turned under by Jabez Lynde's plough more than a 170 years before. Two parallel stains of that topsoil, 15 inches apart, were still there. Only a well trained archaeologist could have recognized these markings. Brown appeared relatively young to me (in his 30's, I would guess) and yet, he bas a B.A. from the University of Calgary, a Masters degree from the Institute of Archaeology in London, England, a certificate in Prehistoric Archaeology from Cambridge University and a Ph.D from the University of Toronto. Even his assistant, Rudy Fecteau, who was digging some "very neat holes", has an M.A. in Archeobotany. What happens to the site now that the dig is finished? Brown pointed out that the site is registered and that anyone seeking artifacts of any kind on that site without an archaeological license is in violation of the Ontario Heritage Act. He added that technically anybody digging for or simply looking for any artifacts (even old bottles) on any site is practising archaeology and requires a license to do so. (The license is a three page form outlining your qualifications and inten- tions.) Brown admitted that prosecutions have seldom been made under the Heritage Act and that the best protection for the site would be to prosecute people for trespassing. Monarch Homes has assured me that they will instruct the police to monitor the site. There are over 8,000 registered archaeological sites in Ontario, only a small number of which are under active investigation. Ironically, the Heritage Act only protects these sites from people looking for artifacts; a developer is fully within his rights to bulldoze such an area and many important sites have been lost in just that way Brown is also acting as field director for the archaeological dig underway at the Dome Stadium site in Toronto. At that site they have exposed the cribbing which had supported the early railways and beneath that have found the har- bour wharfs from the 1830's. He hopes that below that they will find the remains of the military whrWpevhich served Fort York during the War of 1812. Conducting two' . s at once has kept Brown very busy and on the six days that he spent at tf:: ":lynde House site, he was arriving at about 7:30 a.m. and working through ti early evening. Now that the dig is finished, the holes will be filled in order to prevent ac- cidents. This presents no problems to an archaeologist as they are trained to recognize disturbances in the soil. In fact, if and when the rear basement is studied further, all the debris from the demolished rear wing would be shovelled out with only cursory examination. The real study would only begin at the level of the original basement floor about five feet down. Here, in a layer of only a few inches thick, Brown said he would expect to find the artifacts associated with the Lynde family occupation. Brown hopes that further excavation can be done because there are still several questions about the foundations which he was unable to answer in the short time that he had to work. In addition there is the much broader area surrounding the building. Probably nowhere else in Durham Region does the opportunity exist to study a site essentially undisturbed since the War of 1812. The depression to the immediate NE of the house may well have been a millpond and is definitely worth further study. Members of the Whitby Historical Society have expressed interest in con- tinuing the excavation next summer with the help of student grants. When con- tacted, John Latimer of Monarch Homes said he would like to discuss such a project with representatives of the Society. He added.that excavations for In- dian artifacts have taken place at other development sites owned by the Monar- ch group. In the meantime, the work that has been done provides a unique educational opportunity for history classes or other interested groups. I have obtained Latimer's permission and that of town administrator Bill Wallace to show people around the site. If interested, call me at the Free Press, 668-6111. &Qu' Lm-- WITH OUR FEET UP By Bill Swan The fuss over nuclear waste disposal in the eastern reaches of Durham Region is one Whitby residents should closely watch. Eldorado Resources, which refines uranium, needs a place to dump low-level nuclear wastes. Not unexpectedly, no one seems to want such a site next door. The principle is called Not In My Back Yard, or NIMBY. Without much effort, most of us could make an extensive list of NIMBY projects: nuclear waste sites, toxic waste dumps, medical waste transfer stations, a Hell's Angels club house, etc. The list can be extended indefinitely. Include sub- sidized housing, schools, variety stores. In one par- ticular case - in another community I must add - neighbors objected to a day care centre in a church. Seems they didn't mind the once-a-week traffic the church brought their way (on a main highway) but the thought of those noisy little urchins actually playing in a church playground was too much. But NIMBY or not, no one will equate nuclear waste with day care. Throughout the whole rhubarb, I have heard no one say he'd love to have a nuclear waste site buried in his back yard. The nuclear industry has not always been so con- cerned about disposal. In the first years of the operation of Eldorado in Port Hope, such material was used as landfill in Port Hope. In the 70's, residents of Port Hope began to be concerned. Tests were performed, and radiation was found throughout the area: around and under sidewalks, in homes, parks, you name it. The material was removed at considerable expense. Some fear that Eldorado may be playing politics with the matter. The search for a dump site bas not been prompted by the industry's concern. Rather, it is the resuit of political pressure. No good dump site bas ever existed. This outlines two problems: one, that the nuclear industry cannot be trusted to deal with the disposai of wastes without outside monitoring (like any other industry, they want to get rid of the problem as cheaply as possible); and two, radiation from ,guJearwaste wilbewith us a long time. Some experts feel that low level nuclear wastes present little danger. What this means is that the number of cancer victims in the area will be in- creased by only a small number. Increasing the cancer rate 20 years from now from, say, three per thousand to five per thousand, may not seem like much. Unless, of course, you happen to be one of the two extra victims. The battle of Tyrone is being fought over low level nuclear waste. Looming on the horizon is a more serious problem: the disposal of high level radiation products. And here in Whitby, we are between Darlington and Pickering, two giants in the nuclear industry. At present, the industry has no method of per- manent disposal of high level radiation. Spent fuel cells from Pickering Nuclear Generating Station, for example, are at present stored on site in vats resembling Olympic sized swimming pools. This stuff will eventually have to be sealed and stored in deep underground chambers far from populated areas. Even then, the hazard will exist for hundreds of years. But so far no one is disposing of it. So Pickering sits on it, like a sick sow wallowing in waste. (We won't even attempt to discuss the problem of disposal of a nuclear power plant itself. But the time will come - in ten years, maybe 20 years - when retubing will not fix up Pickering. Like a rusted old car body, the plant will remain. And what do you do with a junked nuclear power plant?) But long before we get to that problem lies the disposal of high level wastes. When the nuclear in- dustry and politicians finally tackle that problen - that is, when public outcry is so serious they cannot avoid it - Whitby residents have every right to be concerned. Such wastes will undoubtedly be buried far away in northern Ontario. The problem is that transpor- tation to the disposal site creates a problem. Ac- cidents do happen on highways, railways, airways. What happens when "hot" nuclear waste is dumped over a stretch of Highway 401? NIMBY or not, will ydu want thisstùff even going by.yÃ"dr backyard?