ACTUALITÉ / NEWS Laflèche Environmental wants to set up shop in Russell Township
environmentalassessment(EA)review. “They will have to go to the Ministry of Environment for a certificate of authority,” he said, adding that applies to both the original transfer station proposal and any futureexpansionorupgradeplans. Themayor declined to comment on any comparison between the plans of Laflèche Environmentforitsindustrialparksiteand those of Ottawa-based Taggart-Miller regarding a proposed recycling plant operation near Russell village. Mayor St. Pierre noted that Taggart-Miller still has not made any formal application to the province for an environmental assessment of its proposal. The company has posted a suggested draft terms of reference on its website but that still does not qualify as an actualEArequest. Mayor St. Pierre noted one difference between the proposals of Laflèche Environmental and Taggart-Miller. The industrialparksiteforLaflècheiszonedfor suchapurposewhilethelandthatTaggart- Miller wants to use is a former quarry site andEmbrun. “I think there’s a strong message there,” saidMayorSt.Pierre. WatsonnotedthatConservationOntario istryingtogetalltheconservationauthorities in the province to do “report cards” on their watershed areas, with evaluations on three specific issues: overall water quality, forest cover,andwetlandcover.These“reportcards” wouldbecomeapermanentrecordofthestate ofOntario’smajorwatersheds. SNC’sownStateoftheNationreviewbegan five years agowith the Bear Brook portionof the South Nation watershed. The following yeartechniciansandspecialistsfocusedtheir monitoringeffortsontheheadwatersregion oftheSouthNationRiver,Then2010wasthe timefortheCastorRiver,thecentralstretchof the South Nation River followed in 2011 and thisyear,theSNCisstudyingthelowerportion ofthewatershed. The 2010 examination of the Castor River involved20monitoringstationssetupalong thelengthofthestream.Watersampleswere takenandexaminedandobservationsmade abouttheamountofstreamsideforestcover andwetlandhabitatavailablefornativefish, waterfowl, andwildlife.
G REGG C HAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
EMBRUN | One of the biggest homegrown recycling firms in Eastern Ontario is looking to expand part of its operationsintoRussellTownship. Laflèche Environmental and the Township of Russell have struck a deal for sale of a 20-acre site in the municipal industrial park. Mayor Jean-Paul St. Pierre confirmed the sale agreement between the two during a phone interview April 23. “Yes, we have made a deal,” Mayor St. Pierre said. “It is for a transfer station.” LaflècheEnvironmental’splanistosetup a transfer station on the property for collectionofrecyclingmaterialsthatwillbe truckedlatertothecompany’smainrecycling facility in Moose Creek. Mayor St. Pierre noted that the company’s future goal may include expanding the transfer station into arecyclingfacilitybutheaddedthatwillstill require provincial approval, including an EMBRUN|There’sabitof“redink”ona preliminary report card for a review of the environmental healthof theCastor River. Katherine Watson, a water resources specialistfortheSouthNationConservation Authority (SNC), presented a “State of the Nation”reportontheCastorRivertoRussell TownshipcouncilApril16.SNCisinthefifth- yearofafive-yearmonitoringandevaluation review of conditions in the South Nation Riverwatershed.StudiesontheCastorRiver were done in 2010 and a four-page public reviewdocumentinbothFrenchandEnglish will be available later this year, outlining resultsofthatyearofstudy. Meanwhile, Watson is providing local municipalgroupswitha“thumbnail”preview ofthereportanditsfindings.MayorJean-Paul St.Pierrenotedthatthesituationrepresents an opportunity for the township and the regionalconservationgrouptoworktogether onplanningtobetterprotectandenhancethe CastorRiver,whichisamajorlocalwaterway running through both the villages of Russell G REGG C HAMBERLAIN gregg.chamberlain@eap.on.ca
photoarchives MayorJean-PaulSt.Pierreconfirmedthesaleagreementbetweenthetwoduring a phone interview April 23.
township and Laflèche Environmental is expectedlaterthisweek.Thetownshipstill has150acresremaininginitsindustrialpark forothersuitablecommercialandindustrial developments.
that would also still require a rezoning application to both the township and the UnitedCountiesofPrescott-Russellshould an EA review clear the proposal. A joint formal press release from the
Castor River gets bare passing grade in State of Nation report
ResultsoftheCastorRiverstudyshowthat overall, the stream meets or improves on provincial guidelines in some areas but in others it falls short. Concerning water quality, the amount of dissolvednitratesintheCastorRiverisjusta bit above the provincial guideline, which is acceptable. But the dissolved phosphorus contentoftheriveristwicewhatisacceptable in Ontario. Watson noted this is not good becausethatmeans,undertherightweather andwaterconditions,thereisagreaterchance ofalgaebloomsintheriver,whichcanresult inlarge-scalefishkillsasthealgaelowersthe oxygen content of the stream. The wetland habitat cover rating for the stream is acceptable, Watson said, but the report gives an overall “D” grade for forest coverconditionsalongtheCastorRiverwith longstretchesofinadequateornoforestcover at all. When the final State of theNation report is complete, Watson noted, it will help the SNCwithplanningguidelinesforitsexisting treeplantingandwoodlotadvisoryprograms. It will also help with the SNC’s clean water program for landowners which offers cost- sharingaidforfarmersandruralhomeowners
with stream-side property to make improvementsthatcanreduceerosion,improve farmanimalmanurestorage.
Results of the Castor River study show that overall, the stream meets or improves on provincial guidelines in some areas photoSébastienPierroz Il n y aura finalement pas d'élections danslaprovince.Les107députésontariens réunis à Queen's Park mardi matin ont finalement voté leur confiance dans le budget2012dugouvernementMcGuinty. Retrouvezplusd'informationsàcesujet dans notre prochaine édition. Dernière minute...
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