P.C.B. DRUMS & MORE IN CONESTOGO ARE EVERYONE'S PROBLEM

Luisa D'Amato's Opinion column yesterday carried this article titled "Toxic waste: everyone's problem". Luisa hits the nail on the head with her condemnation of various levels of government who all passed the buck, demanding that the victim of the toxic dumping pay for the cleanup and removal. That was estimated at $12,000 before they determined that P.C.B.s were involved. The homeowner finally was assisted by Safety-Kleen in Breslau but not before she stated that the situation "has revealed some rather large, gaping holes in how something like this is handled.".

Of course the Ontario Ministry of the Environment should have taken the lead on this but really who are we kidding? As the homeowner said in an earlier interview "I feel so let down by the Ministry of the Environment". The M.O.E. have become a nest of lawyers and vipers simply tolerating polluters and harassing citizens who have legitimate expectations that they will do their mandated duty. No such luck unless the citizens are prepared to take them to court on a regular basis. What a way to run a Ministry of the provincial government.