A Year and a Half is too Long
In December 2009 the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs facilitated a meeting between the Concerned Citizens of Lincolnville and the Municipality of the District of Guysborough and other interested parties over the two landfills in their community. The three hour meeting, while rocky at times, was productive and the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs agreed to organize a second meeting for the spring of 2010. As of May 2011 no such meeting has occurred.
“We entered into those discussions in good faith,” says James Desmond of the Concerned Citizens of Lincolnville. We hoped that the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs and the provincial government would act as mediator or honest broker between the community and the Guysborough municipal government, but all we are getting is more broken promises.”
The Concerned Citizens of Lincolnville along with the Nova Scotia Public Interest Research Group and the Ecology Action Centre would like to see the Province treat this as an issue which can and must be resolved and pledge to convene meetings until the parties come to a mutually satisfactory agreement. If the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs is unable to convene further meetings, the provincial government should engage a professional mediator.
“We were satisfied with the first meeting, but a year and a half to organize the next meeting is unacceptable and beyond belief,” continues James Desmond.
The History of Two Landfills: Lower Sackville and Lincolnville
Many familiar with the situation see environmental racism at play.
“I look at how the concerns of the citizens of Lower Sackville were handled in the 1990s when it came to the landfill in their community and how the citizens of Lincolnville are being treated and I can only conclude that this is environmental racism,” says Asaf Rashid of NSPIRG. “In the case of Sackville, the landfill was closed, a multi-million dollar leachate collection system was installed, and the residents and community compensated. In 2011 African Nova Scotians deserve better.”
First Landfill Leaking
In 2006 in Lincolnville, the Municipality of the District of Guysborough closed the first generation landfill and opened a second generation landfill which takes waste from Northern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. Monitoring results indicate that the first landfill is leaking contaminants into the surrounding environment.
“The first landfill is leaking contaminated leachate and because of inadequate testing we don’t know the severity of the problem,” states Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre. “In addition, we believe that the Municipality is not in compliance with its closure permit and therefore is breaking the law by not providing a leachate collection system for the first landfill.”
The first meeting between the citizens of Lincolnville took place at the on December 9, 2011 in Upper Big Tracadie. In attendance were the citizens of Lincolnville, elected representatives from the Municipality of the District of Guysborough, officials from Nova Scotia Environment, the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, representatives from NSPIRG and EAC, and officials from the Office of African Nova Scotian Affairs.
For more information please contact James Desmond, Concerned Citizens of Lincolnville at 232-3041, Asaf Rashid, NSPIRG at 402-0898(cell) or Mark Butler at 429-5287. The protest will take place at the entrance to the Lincolnville landfill on May 11 at noon.
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