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PLease post this immediately. Thanks much. It was just written today about a deadline for Monday. David Wimberly ========================================================================= A Media Release went out late this afternoon. We hope to get coverage starting tomorrow. It would help for each of you to call radio, TV and newspapers and ask them when they will be covering this - to encourage them to cover it. You could even voice your opinions if you get a receptive ear. The second part of this is a listing of Coalition concerns. Please use this as the basis for your submissions, put into your own words as much as possible. The more times these points of concern are mentioned in submissions the more likely it is we will get some response. Sometimes it is a tally process rather than a process of governments being convinced by brilliant reasoning. So please mention every point you can. And please do everything you can to distribute this media release and the attached points of concern to as many people as you can. Feel free to photocopy them and hand them out if you can. The more that respond and the more that mention these points the more likely we are for this to make a positive impression. Please contact me if the material below needs to be in a different form for you for it to look its best. The media release and list of concerns are also here as an attachment in MSWord. Hopefully that will reach you looking the very best. It formatting will be better that as pasted in below, but the content is exactly the same. We know that there are redundencies in the list of concerns. This should be up at the web site any minuite now, so direct people to the site. Do everything you can to get a buzz going. Cheers and good luck, David Wimberly 826-7846 ============================================================================ ====== Media Release: For Immediate Release: 9 January 2003 Halifax Dartmouth Citizens Coalition DEADLINE LOOMS FOR PUBLIC INPUT ON ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF HALIFAX HARBOUR CLEANUP (Halifax) - The Halifax Dartmouth Citizens Coalition, a group concerned with the serious problems with the Harbour Solutions Project, says the environmental assessment of the project has been a hollow exercise. The coalition says few people realize that the public's 'window' for commenting on the Environmental Assessment closes on Monday, January 13 - after being quietly scheduled to take place over the holiday period. The public should not miss this final opportunity to voice their concerns. Don Chard, the Dartmouth representative on the coalition, says "Public participation has been woefully inadequate in such areas as treatment technology, site selection and private sector involvement. We are losing an irreplaceable opportunity to use innovative treatment technology proven right here in Nova Scotia to provide vastly superior clean-up, while avoiding the perils of multi-national involvement." "These so-called public-private partnerships do not work. When one partner's bottom line is profit then concern for citizens and the environment takes second place. Promises of government monitoring only means catching the errors after the fact. No one should forget the record of multi-nationals in these PPP arrangements around the world, especially in the areas of drinking water and waste water. Almost invariably, PPP arrangements lead to poor service and higher costs. A Director Suez Lyonnaise and the Mayor of Grenoble went to jail for their collaboration in turning Grenoble's drinking water over to Suez Lyonnaise," notes Ron Stockton of Nova Scotia Union of Public Employees. Ken Saunders, the Halifax representative on the citizen's coalition says, "You don't have to be an expert to speak about the negative impact of the Harbour Solutions Project as HRM council has currently designed it. A simple written message of concern sent to Ian McKay of Public Works Canada by January 13th is all that is needed. "The coalition has prepared a brief, point form list of our major concerns to help all citizens to comment readily and effectively," says Saunders. What the Citizens Coalition is calling, "The Ghost of Christmas Past Wish List for Sewage Treatment Improvements" is available from their contacts listed below and is soon to be posted on a website called "Be The Change" (http://bethechange.ca/harboursolutions/). The official Environmental Assessment documents are available at HRM's website at: http://www.region.halifax.ns.ca/harboursol/assessment.html. Comments on the draft report should be returned to: Mr. Ian McKay, Public Works & Government Services Canada, 496-5465, ian.mckay@pwgsc.gc.ca. The Citizens Coalition is particularly disturbed to discover that all of the relevant documents necessary for the Environmental Assessment were not at many sites as required and as promised. In particular, background documents were not available at public libraries. For information: Don Chard: 463-5810, dfchard@hotmail.com Ron Stockton: 422-6055, stockton@smelaw.ca Ken Saunders: 453-6392, thumpper9@hotmail.com -30- ============================================================================ ====== The Ghost of Christmas Past Wish List for Sewage Treatment Improvements The Halifax Dartmouth Coalition, comprised of concerned citizens of both Halifax and Dartmouth, has been working assiduously to obtain concrete answers on the viability of The Halifax Harbour Solutions Project. Members of the coalition have attended meetings of HRM Council, and several public meetings to have our concerns addressed. Unfortunately the availability of information to make an informed decision on the project, has been based on details obtained from HRM council after decisions were made during In Camera Sessions. The current situation relevant to the project proceedings includes an Environmental Assessment to which public submissions must be submitted by January 13, 2003. The coalition, and members of impacted government departments attended a symposium on January 6, 2003, led by Ian MacKay, of Public Works Canada. The consensus of this meeting is that there remain too many unanswered questions, and the lack of current, relevant information adversely affect the Harbour Solutions Project in the foreseeable future, and the estimated 60 year life cycle of the proposed STP's. The following are the primary concerns of the Halifax Dartmouth Citizens Coalition: (Supporting documents available on request.). The Public Process - From the approval of the March 1998 Advisory Committee Report by HRM Council in April 1998 to the present, there has been no real effective public involvement in this project. Particularly the fact that the Report Recommendation # 4.6 on Site Selection and WINBY was totally ignored. The Halifax Dartmouth Citizens Coalition Petition opposing the Canadian Coast Guard Base was also totally ignored by the Harbour Solutions Project Team. The Health Impact of the proposed Sewage Treatment Plant on our Community and on our Quality of Life still has not been properly addressed. HRM has agreed to use the Canadian Handbook of Health Impact Assessment as part of this EA. There is no evidence of the use of this Handbook and its methodology i