Lincolnville residents protest at landfill
Councillor says community benefits
LINCOLNVILLE - A number of Lincolnville residents protested Monday at the municipal landfill site that borders their community. The 10 protesters expressed concerns over what they say is a lack of attention to certain issues related to the expanding landfill site - including concerns over water, soil and air quality.
Several protesters made reference to Africville on their signs, and said they worried that Lincolnville could eventually end up as another displaced Black community. The protesters said they're concerned with how the growth of the second-generation landfill site in coming years will affect their community.
"What am I going to come home to?" asked Grade nine student Cassandra Desmond, the youngest protester, referring to when she's an adult and might want to return home with her children. She echoed concerns that the community might be moved or transformed to make way for growth at the site. "That's not going to be home to me," she said. Several protesters said they fear that one day all of Nova Scotia's solid waste will come to the municipal landfill site.
"Twenty-five years from now I expect to be able to look out my back door and hear the machines running," said Wendy Campbell.
"There will be no more Lincolnville," one man predicted.
Several protesters said they don't feel their concerns are being properly represented at council. Lincolnville resident Sheila Pelly represents Lincolnville and Sunnyville on council. She said the community of Lincolnville is not united in opposition to the project.
In a telephone interview Monday, Pelly noted that Lincolnville resident Alonzo Reddick has sat on the landfill advisory committee for many years and is among those who see the second-generation landfill site as good for the Black communities and all of Guysborough County.
"Wouldn't Cape Breton love to have it?" she asked. "Wouldn't Antigonish love to have it?" Pelly pointed out that not only have several Black residents found work with the landfill, but all county residents are enjoying low residential tax rates in part because of the second-generation site being so near.
Pelly questioned the legitimacy of a petition the activists sent to Barry Barnet, minister responsible for African Nova Scotian Affairs, expressing concerns over the site. She said the petition includes the names of many children and people who don't live in Lincolnville.
Pelly also noted that the municipality was in Lincolnville for a whole day with an open house on the proposed second-generation site. She said they stayed all day so that people who had to work shifts or couldn't make it at one time or another would have an opportunity to attend, receive information and discuss the project. She said most of those protesting did not go.
The councillor said she's disappointed that the protesters don't get involved in community affairs. She said there is a community meeting on the second Monday of every month, but these people do not attend. Pelly said she would like to see the community come together to address important issues, such as the need for affordable housing. She said there are many people who would like to return to Lincolnville, but there is no housing available to them. Some of these are retirees, she noted, who would not be eligible for a mortgage. She said some have moved to Mulgrave instead.
The landfill protesters said they have heard of plans to have a railroad bring solid waste to the site, and for bio-hazardous material to be disposed of there. Warden Lloyd Hines said there are no plans for either. He told The Journal Monday that he was surprised the protesters felt they had to get their message out in this way.
"We've had a dialogue with the community; we've had meetings with them. There have been ongoing meetings on the landfill," he said. "The process has been very open."
"Once we became aware that there were some concerns, we did a lot of due diligence," Hines said of the follow-up to public consultations. "The new site is even farther away from the community than the old one, and has greater environmental integrity."
He said a group of citizens who brought their concerns to council in the fall received a detailed response from council within the past 30 days.
"We're more than willing to continue to discuss matters on an ongoing basis," he added.
But Hines said he feels there is a "definite move to discredit what we're doing over there."
The 10 protesters at the site Monday were peaceful, although RCMP arrived after director of waste management, Gary Cleary tried to enter the site to start his workday.
Cleary said the protesters asked him not to enter when he arrived. He said that when he told the protesters he had to enter, they re-stated their wish that he not. He then said one option was to call in the RCMP to facilitate his entry and inform the protesters of what they could and could not do in protesting. According to Cleary, the protesters said they would prefer that he call the RCMP, which they said might raise more awareness of their concerns. Cleary said the RCMP arrived and explained that the protesters could give out information but couldn't prevent traffic from moving in and out of the site.
