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Town council seeks revisions to environmental assessment process (6/02)

New Liskeard town council is asking for revisions to the province's environmental assessment process to assure Tri-Town area residents that the proposed development of a toxic waste incinerator in Kirkland Lake would not pose a health risk.

New Liskeard town council is asking for revisions to the province's environmental assessment process to assure Tri-Town area residents that the proposed development of a toxic waste incinerator in Kirkland Lake would not pose a health risk.

Councillors passed a resolution June 3 asking for the review process to be rolled back to 1996 standards. The resolution stops short of condemning the proposal.

A Ministry of Environment assessment of Bennett Environmental Inc.'s $25-million incinerator proposal is now underway. The company's plan is to transport, by truck, 200,000 tonnes of contaminated soil annually to Kirkland Lake for processing. The plant would create 35 jobs.

Cited as factors influencing New Liskeard council was the opposition to the incinerator proposal by the agricultural community and various South Temiskaming associations, as well as concerns about a toxic waste spillage along nearby Highway 11.