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April
21, 2003
COUNCIL PICKS EARTH DAY TO APPROVE RED HILL CONSTRUCTION
On
Tuesday, April 22 (Earth Day), City Council will consider
a recommendation to begin construction of the Red Hill Creek
Expressway. The staff report also recommends giving $2 million
to CN for work on relocating their mainline adjacent to
the Rennie dump, and $1.2 million to three consulting companies
to prepare for construction work in various other parts
of the valley. However, the City has still not obtained
any of the required permits and approvals to proceed with
construction. Friends of Red Hill has sent the following
letter to all members of council in advance of the meeting.
Copies of the letter have also been provided to the media.
Dear
Councillor:
Re:
Red Hill Valley Project (PW03026): Item 5.3 on COW agenda
for April 22, 2003
Staff
are asking you to mark "Earth Day" by providing
a blank cheque for the Red Hill Creek Expressway project.
You should understand that moving ahead with construction
at this time is likely illegal and is certainly extremely
irresponsible. There are numerous legally-required permits,
authorizations and approvals for this project that the City
does not have. Thus the allocation of $2 million to CN and
$1.2 million to various consultants is extremely risky and
leaves the City open to legal actions by these contractors
should the City fail to obtain any of more than a dozen
missing approvals.
These
missing approvals include the following:
The
Iroquois Confederacy and the Six Nations Band Council have
NOT approved archaeological work that must be completed
before the expressway construction proceeds (this is admitted
on page two of the staff report).
The
Ontario Ministry of the Environment has assured numerous
organizations and individuals that "The City of Hamilton
is required to fulfill the conditions of the 1997 declaration
order, including the commitments it made with respect to
public consultation, before beginning construction on the
north-south section of the expressway" (Letter from
the Director of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals
Branch). At this point, City staff have not even re-started
the declaration order process that was suspended half-done
in the fall of 1998.
The
City has not received any approvals in relation to work
immediately adjacent to and on top of the closed toxic Rennie
Street Landfill. The initial work on the rail lines requires
excavation of a portion of this landfill, while the completion
of the expressway requires the removal of at least 70,000
tonnes of material from this highly toxic site. The City
needs up to four approvals from the Ontario Ministry of
the Environment for this activity. It has not obtained ANY
of them.
The
City does NOT have an authorization from Fisheries and Oceans
Canada.
A
federal environmental assessment of the project may be required
by the National Energy Board to examine an application by
TransNorthern Pipelines to relocate the main product pipeline
between Sarnia and Toronto that runs through Red Hill Valley.
There
has been a very long history of deep public concern about
the expressway issue. Consequently, it is extremely important
that the City only proceed if and when ALL the required
approvals have been obtained. Any other approach will only
generate more ill will and division in the community. It
is a very sad day when citizen volunteers are forced to
carry the burden of monitoring the City’s compliance
with provincial and federal laws.
Sincerely,
Don
McLean, Chair
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