Oshawa, Farmtech and a "Bluebelt" for Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper recently submitted a new comment to Public Works and Government Services (PWGS) Canada describing how to better protect the Oshawa waterfront. The comment is part of an ongoing Environmental Assessment looking at the effect of Farmtech and the Oshawa Harbour Commission's proposed ethanol plant. Waterkeeper has been part of a number of similar consultations over the years, including the Crombie Report, the CN Rail Spur, Landfill Cleanup, and Marina Closure.

The 11-page report to PWGS details the unsustainability of the plan to develop Gifford Hill. It highlights the potential impacts of building an ethanol plan beside Second Marsh.

Gifford Hill is a unique glacial formation in Southern Ontario, with waterflows that empty into several areas including Harmony Creek and the Oshawa Harbour. The environmentally sensitive Second Marsh is recognized as the last major costal wetland on the western end of Lake Ontario.

As Waterkeeper President Mark Mattson explains, "residents, politicians and scientists have fought for decades to protect this land. After the recent recommendations issued by the Crombie Report of 2008, we are being forced to waste our time discussing the industrialization of Gifford Hill again."

Our comments to the PWGS hightlight the issues of permanent protection for dwindling waterfront areas. Like the Greenbelt, which protects vast areas of Southern Ontario farmland and wilderness from industrialization, is it time for a "Bluebelt" to protect Lake Ontario? This is the focus of this week's Living at the Barricades.

More Information:

Read our comments to Public Works and Government Services Canada here

This week's Living at the Barricades:

Does Lake Ontario Need a Bluebelt? (Oct. 22, 2008)

Is it time to protect Lake Ontario's waterfront as an environmentally vital and sensitive region like it did the vast Greenbelt area of Southern Ontario? On today's show, Mark and Krystyn explore the reasons why a "Bluebelt" could benefit and protect Lake Ontario from the harms of industrial polluters, urban development and sprawl. We also check in with Larry Ladd, an Oshawa resident and Chair of the Oshawa Marina Users Group, who is battling Farmtech's proposed Ethanol plant, planned to be built beside the ecologically fragile Second Marsh.

Music on this week's episode:

Dog H2O by The Dinner is Ruined

Truest Nature by Dan Goldman