Chemical transfer halted

[formeremployee]

Protest over chemical transfer is heating up in Marathon
Dec 17, 2009 | In Protest | Send feedback »

A week ago, Tembec held information sessions with the residents in Marathon, Ontario to explain the disposal process for the waste chemicals left behind in the Marathon Pulp mill when it went bankrupt.

Those information sessions have not eliminated the protests.

Last week the Pic River First Nation and Marathon residents began a blockade to prevent Tembec from driving down a road to dispose of 1.5 million litres of chemicals known as black or green liquor.

Pic River Chief Roy Michano said he wants a written guarantee that the chemicals will be not be transferred to the spill basin, located halfway between Marathon and the Pic River lands.

Michano said without that letter, they are considering moving their protest from the access road to Highway 17 at the Heron Bay bridge.

Officials from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment say they can not provide a written guarantee. There is an imminent threat of a chemical spill if the holding tanks on the site freeze. The ministry has asked Tembec for a report on all available

[elkoecho]

Local people must take up the cause to protect their environmental safety, whether it be the residents of Marathon or the constituents of the Pic River First Nation.

Years ago here in Elko, British Columbia, the previous owner of our Tembec sawmilling operation said it was safe to burn its pulp mill by-product in our Elko sawmill beehive burner. The company gathered both the union committee and the safety committee in a quickly put together company meeting to explain how safe and efficeint this process would be in the overall scheme of things.

It took a massive effort by members of the union committee united with a lot of local individuals input from the community who acquired highly professional expertise from the U.S.A. to finally put a stop to the intended burn of this black liquor with its potential pollution spewing over the small community of Elko, British Columbia. www.elko.ca

There is only praise to those in the Marathon region who intend to protect themselves from a similar potential environmental disaster overtaking their own community.

from Ron, the Elko Plant Committee Secretary
elkoecho.blogspot.com/