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August
1999 Newsletter
YOU
Need to Speak to the Panel!
Get
out your pens! The work of the federal environmental assessment
Review Panel is now underway, and the first stage provides
a great opportunity for public participation. The Review
Panel is asking for public comments on the issues that need
to be considered in the assessment. It wants to know what
the public is concerned about.
In
the past, most of us have spoken to regional officials or
written letters, but generally these fell on deaf ears.
The people we spoke to were either determined to build the
expressway in the valley or under orders to do so. Now is
really the first opportunity in 15 years for people to speak
to an INDEPENDENT review panel. This is obviously very different
from talking to the Region. Now we get a chance to talk
to the regions JUDGES. Please dont miss this opportunity!
What
to Do
Here is what you need to do. If you want to speak directly
to the Review Panel, call Iannick Lamirande at (819) 953-5842
and tell him you want to speak at one of the public meetings
in Hamilton on September 9, 10 and 11. You need to tell
him how long you want to speak and when. Call early, but
even if you just show up at one of the meetings you will
be allowed to speak.
If
you don't feel comfortable speaking publicly, you can send
a letter instead. If you do speak, you should try to send
a copy of your comments in writing. Letters must be received
by Saturday, September 25, 1999 (so mail them by the 22nd).
They should be sent to: Red Hill Creek Expressway Review
Panel, c/o Iannick Lamirande, Information Officer, 200 Sacre-Coeur
Boulevard, 13th floor, Hull, Quebec K1A 0H3. They can be
faxed to (819) 997-4931 or emailed to:< iannick.lamirande@ceaa.gc.ca>.
What
Should You TELL the Panel?
The
Panel wants to know why you are concerned about the expressway.
They want to know what problems you foresee, what things
about the valley are important to you, and what questions
you want the Region to answer.
Some
things are obvious like the effects on trees, wildlife,
and air quality, but others might get skipped if we don't
alert the Panel. For example, the Region has said very little
about the loss of parkland, the elimination of the playground
of kids whose economic circumstances restrict them from
other recreational opportunities, or the disturbance of
closed landfills and other contaminated sites. The Region
has said nothing about the traffic impacts that the expressway
will cause on King, Queenston, Barton and other neighbouring
streets. The Region also doesn't want to have to discuss
the financial cost of the expressway or where the money
will come from, or the impacts on downtown and east end
businesses, or the encouragement of suburban sprawl by the
expressway, or the effect on the value of homes near Red
Hill Valley. Whether or not the Panel requires the Region
to address these issues depends on what it hears from the
public between now and September 25.
More
Info Available
The
Panel has issued a Draft EIS Guidelines document. EIS means
Environmental Impact Statement. That is the report that
the Region must present to the Panel. In essence, the EIS
guidelines are the marching orders issued by the Panel to
the Region. The guidelines identify the issues that the
Region will be required to address in its environmental
assessment of the expressway, and they also provide directions
on how to describe and assess these issues. If you want
to refer to the Draft Guidelines, they and other Red Hill
documents are on the second floor of the Hamilton Central
Library at 55 York Boulevard (above the Farmers Market).
They are also available on the internet at
The guidelines are already quite detailed and comprehensive,
but there is room for some improvement. Because they are
a technical document, the Panel doesn't expect most people
to read or refer specifically to them, but you can.
In
addition to sending your comments to the Panel, please also
send a copy to Friends of Red Hill Valley at PO Box 61536,
Fennell Station, Hamilton L8T 5A1. You can fax it to 548-6317
or email it to <redhill@hwcn.org>.
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