Environment Committee - July 7, 2008 - Meeting Minutes

Here are the notes from the South Junction Triangle Residents Association's Environment Committee meeting, July 7, 2008. Notes are submitted by Bev Agar.

Eight members of the Environment Committee met with two members of TEA, Toronto Environmental Alliance (www.torontoenvironment.org)

[You will find 'Secrecy is Toxic website at the above or go to www.secrecyistoxic.ca ]

  1. Brownfield remediation at 370 Wallace Ave.
    1. The topic was discussed, including effects on health of people last summer.
    2. A member of the committee has taken on the task of contacting officials and TEA members will research issues so that the Association can take a two-pronged approach:
      1. Information and Communication (Similar to the Ward Street Remediation by GE) expectations; and
      2. Requirements by the community for the safe completion of the remediation.
    3. We may do an audit of residents in the future, concerning the effects of last summers remediation.
    4. If you have contact with neighbours on McCauley where future remediation will occur, it would be good to ask them to join the Residents' Association and take part in this issue.
  2. Nitta Gelatin / Cangel
    1. The Cangel site was discussed concerning smells, chemical issues, etc.
    2. Both TEA and the same person who has researched this issue will continue to work on it. If you have any concerns or information please contact the Association.
  3. Idling - if anyone would like to work on this topic please contact us. We can arrange for signs to go in appropriate 'hot spots' such as in front of schools, but need to hear from as many people as possible where they think signs should go before contacting the City with targeted locations for signage. ("...prohibits the excessive idling of vehicles...temperature range is between 5 and 27 degrees Celsius.")
  4. Noise Pollution - 'Quiet Neighbourhood' signs can be used "in a targeted way near noisy trouble-spots". This is another list to prepare as a request to the City.

    For your information: 1.General Prohibition "No person shall make, cause or permit noise or vibration, at any time, which is likely to disturb the quiet, peace, rest, enjoyment, comfort or convenience of the inhabitants of the City."

Please pass this along to those who don't have computers.

On behalf of the Association, thanks to those neighbours who have taken on tasks to help keep us safe.

If other sites are of concern to you please let the Association know.

Comments

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Noise and respect

I am not sure if the committee is referring to ALL sources of noise or just commercial ones. As a resident of Perth Wallace, I would add these to the list:

1. The dorks who squeel their tires at Perth Wallace and at Symington and Wallace.

2. The Adventist Church at Perth and Wallace that has a habit of disrespecting the area on many levels such as horn honking and yelling (even after 11 pm) and drum core practices on weekend afternoons. I would imagine that part of the issue is that the vast majority of goers don't live in the area so it does not affect them. Some residents may recall a few years ago when they had a bake sale and positioned PA sized speakers all around the church and some guy blathered on all day at full volume until the Police showed up. A little respect for others please.

3. The constant rumble of large and small trucks on their way to Solways metals. (Large trucks are prohibited but they come anyway. Worst offender? Arizon Haulage.)

Sloppy TEA

I reviewed some of the information posted about our area on the TEA site and found it to be full of conjecture, inaccuracies, and leading statements.

I found comments about the soil remediation on Wallace to be leading and inaccurate. Many residents did not know what was up but I somehow got info and received additional information from Bio-Genie and the City about DOE monitoring and I was also able to contact the current landowner. That may not bring comfort to those who had to inhale the compost smell of the process, and I know for a fact that it made many sick but the TEA's claims that nobody knows what is going on and that there is something secret are just not true.For years I could not find anybody who cared about the groundwater cleaning stations that existed on the property, a very potentially toxic brew. But as soon as people could smell something then there as an issue. The good news at the end of the day is that the toxic material will be dealt with on site and not just dumped in somebody else's backyard (as was the Mike Harris plan) and that the area (after DOE approval) will be developed bringing new faces and activity to dead area. Hopefully the last remediation will not be as smelly or irritating as the first part was. (On the TEA site there is a photo of "800 Lansdowne" but it is in fact Wallace.)

Their review of the situation at Solways metals on Ernest was obviously written by somebody who has not been involved with the situation. Many are involved in trying to get them to move and there has been a fair amount of oversight and conditions placed upon them by MLS tribunals...the point is that things have not moved as fast as we would like but Solways is certainly on the radar of many at City, MLS, DOE, Transportation, and residents. And for the last time....the residents of the area were here FIRST, not the other way around. I don't know where this myth started but it's continued use creates sympathy for a business that came after the people. I have the photos and City maps to prove it.

Environmental concerns are important and in many ways things are getting better in the area but accurate information should guide the committee, not alarmist supposition. I am quite let down by the quality of TEA's work.