Livid over the landfill
Closure, compensation demands raised at fiery Tracadie meeting
TRACADIE - A war of words - including allegations of racism - has broken out between some Lincolnville residents, African Nova Scotian activists and the Municipality of the District of Guysborough over the controversial second-generation landfill site.
An "emergency" meeting to discuss the landfill was held at Tracadie United Baptist Church on Saturday afternoon.
Representatives from Bound To Be Free - an African-Nova Scotian movement whose goal is to eliminate institutionalized poverty among Blacks - also spoke at the meeting, dubbed the "Save Lincolnville Campaign."
Some political representatives were invited but none chose to attend.
"Racism is alive," said ex-Lincolnville resident and former principal of Guysborough Academy Paul Ashe. "It's amazing how our people, as a community, are treated by a municipality that is supposed to be there to represent our best interests. They're not, and neither are the councillors, in those positions."
Those comments drew a stinging response from Guysborough warden Lloyd Hines and councillor Sheila Pelly.
"If they have issues with the landfill site why do they go to Jack Desmond and Wendy Campbell? Why don't they go to (director of waste management) Gary Cleary or Peter MacKenzie with the Department of Environment? As far as I'm concerned these people from Halifax want it to be a racist issue," Pelly told The Journal on Monday afternoon.
"That's just a couple of people in the community that as far as I'm concerned have nothing better to do. They're bringing these people from Halifax almost like a trap for the municipality. I don't think the municipality has to attend any meetings. The municipality has done their work as far as the second-generation landfill site is concerned.
"The intent was that no one from the municipality would be there. As councillor of the district I don't support what they are doing and I told the people from Halifax that."
Hines, meanwhile, went one step further, describing the group's actions as "beyond cynical."
"It's a very cynical thing to say, and for individuals to try to use the issue of race and associate it with the municipality's actions, in this particular matter, it's beyond cynical," he said.
Guysborough-Sheet Harbour MLA Ronnie Chisholm threw his support behind the council.
"I don't believe that the landfill location was racially motivated. I'm sure the municipality would have followed the process of due diligence in building this state-of the-art solid waste disposal system and its location," he said.
A keynote speaker at the meeting, Lincolnville's James Desmond, vowed to hold the council accountable for not attending the gathering.
"They should be worried about what's happening because we're not going to lower the temperature, we're only going to take it up," Desmond said.
"I would just like to say that as a member of this group and as a member of the Lincolnville community that came Monday morning I will be making our councillor and our council accountable for not being here at this meeting.
"I will make the whole council of Guysborough accountable for not showing up."
Other speakers also voiced their disgust at the politicians' decision not to attend.
"What people need to do is be a voice and say to their elected officials, 'where were you, why didn't you come out?'" said Lyndon Hibbert, owner of Healthy Wealthy Living Incorporated and director of B2BFree in Nova Scotia.
Concerns raised during the meeting included possible water, soil, and air contamination. Health problems due to living close to the landfill were also addressed.
Gene Daniels, a B2BFree member and president of Studio D - an advocacy program for international issues related to low-income housing - interviewed several Lincolnville residents and described his findings as "highly unusual."
"I spoke to a gentleman last week that was suffering from stomach cancer and before you know it I spoke with two or three or four other people who had all said the same thing. That's unusual, that's highly unusual," said Daniels.
"If I were to walk down the streets of Halifax and come in contact with 15 people and asked them who was suffering from stomach cancer or any type of ailment, I'll wager that I wouldn't run into four to five people within a five-minute conversation.
"We have had people that have come in as recently as last week saying there is nothing wrong with it (landfill site). I have a team…who are willing to put money, time, effort and research forth looking at and helping our cause in this investigation."
Municipality of the District of Guysborough councillor Myles MacPherson, whose district encompasses the landfill and who lives close to the site, said the environmental standards at the facility site are first-rate.
"We have set some of the best North American standards for solid waste management at our landfill site. Being the councillor for the district, I'm out there (landfill site) on a weekly basis to keep an eye on everything," he said.
"I'm handier to the landfill than any individuals there, I think. It would affect my own personal property that surrounds the landfill. The laws of gravity are all downhill there and it's very close to Boylston and the people around Myer's Hill."
Demands raised during the meeting included:
- the immediate closure and relocation of the landfill site;
- public policies be based on mutual respect, and;
- full reparations and compensation be given for land displacement, health costs, and environmental contamination forced upon the African-Nova Scotian community.
"We're not for sale, I don't believe anyone here is. We're not for sale. This is not about us. This is about the little ones, those little children, and this is about the hard work that these people did to make us a community," said Save Lincolnville Now Campaign member Wendy Campbell. "So, hopefully we will work hard together and we will remove that landfill site from Lincolnville."
Desmond said residents were given the impression during a 2003 meeting that the landfill site was a "done deal."
"We got an understanding from the municipality at a focus group meeting in 2003 that there had already been $180,000 invested by the municipality into the site before they even held the focus group meeting," said Desmond. "So that gave us the understanding that this was a done deal."
MacPherson, however, rejected that suggestion.
"It was a $7 or $8 million investment to have the full containment. I think it's all on the up and up concerning the environment. I would certainly say that the majority of Lincolnville residents are clear on that," MacPherson said.
