e-Newsletter, April 9, 2018

In Muskoka we all know you can’t dump sand into a river to make a beach as it is bad for the fish habitat.

We also know from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s notices (such as this and this) that we must always be careful to not introduce any invasive species. But we now see that apparently none of these environmental obligations apply to the proponent attempting to build a proposed hydro-electric generating station at the Bala falls.

The photograph below (click on it for a larger view) was taken in December 2017 and shows the proponent has placed three overseas shipping containers into the Moon River (these were manufactured in China with insecticides harmful to fish applied to the wood floors). It isn’t known where these were most recently stored and what might have attached itself there. And we understand there were no precautions taken to ensure invasive species were not introduced into the Moon River.

The photograph below was taken in April 2018 and shows that the proponent has dumped blasted rock extending about 50′ into the Moon River. This blasted rock would include:

• Fine particulate matter – this is harmful to fish habitat.
• Residues from the chemicals used for blasting.
• Anything else left when the Bala #2 Generating Station was demolished in 1972, such as Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), lubricants and whatever else that was buried at the time (the proponent’s excavation did uncover industrial heritage remnants from the Bala #2 Generating Station, but the proponent did not honour their commitments and obligations for this event).

The proponent did not disclose such destruction of fish habitat for their 2013 environmental approval from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC). Therefore, the MOECC should not permit such harm to the environment as the public has not been notified of these negative impacts and any mitigation measures.

The Environmental Bill of Rights, and the MOECC’s Statement of Environmental Values requires the MOECC demonstrate transparency and consistency in their decision-making and enforcement actions, but this clearly has not been done.

As you see from this article, we have written many letters to the MOECC on this and other serious environmental issues, but the MOECC does not respond or reply.

Despite two reminders, the MOECC has still not replied to our January 23, 2018 letter “Murdered in 45 Seconds”. To not even have a response to this most serious issue of drowning unsuspecting tourists is inexcusable.

The fact that the MOECC has repeatedly ignored letters violates the Ontario government service standards.

We continue to be disappointed and frustrated that the MOECC bureaucrats accept their pay cheques but not their responsibility to protect the environment.