PROVEN LEADERSHIP And a principled, local voice for Kitchener-Conestoga
HAROLD
ALBRECHT
www.HaroldAlbrecht.ca
Kitchener-Conestoga
Authorized by the Official Agent for Harold Albrecht
08 | 29 | 2015 VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 35
SLEEPING BEAUTY BALLET SET FOR DUNFIELD STAGE ARTS PAGE 15
COMMENT PAGE 6
EARLY PAYOUTS SHINE A LIGHT ON MPS’ PENSIONS
New evidence demands further cleanup orders be directed at Chemtura, says watchdog group
www.OBSERVERXTRA.com
CONSTRUCTION SITE FALL LEADS TO EMERGENCY FLIGHT
STEVE KANNON New evidence suggesting contaminants on an Elmira chemical plant are worse than first identified should compel the province to issue more cleanup orders for the site, says a community watchdog group. The Chemtura Public Advisory Committee wants Woolwich council to press for more action from the Ministry of the Environment, arguing a new study shows pollutants are leaching from the site into the Canagagigue Creek. In a presentation to councillors Tuesday night, CPAC member Graham Chevreau said the new data suggest the province should revisit deals with the chemical producer that date back almost 25 years. The Chemtura site is subject to an MoE control order to remediate polluted groundwater under the terms of a 1991 agreement and follow-up settlement deal in 1993 between the ministry and what was then Uniroyal Chemical. “The agreement also bound the Ministry of the Environment not to issue any further control orders to the Company for remedial work ‘unless new evidence of the nature or CPAC | 2
A 28-year-old construction worker from Elmwood was transported by air ambulance to a hospital in Hamilton on Wednesday after falling from a crane platform and suffering a head injury at a construction site behind Elmira Pet Products. He’s employed by Canadian Crane Rentals, which is working on an addition at the plant. The Ministry of Labour is investigating. [WHITNEY NEILSON / THE OBSERVER]
Hahn cleared by audit committee Woolwich councillor won’t face further legal action as MECAC opts to end review process STEVE KANNON Woolwich councillor Scott Hahn won’t face legal action over his election expenses, as an audit committee opted Thursday not to send the case to a prosecutor. The majority of the sevenmember Municipal Election Compliance Audit Committee (MECA) voted to consider the matter closed. The split was 6-1. The decision came as a relief
to Hahn, who has spent the last few months on tenterhooks as his election filings were first reviewed by MECAC and then referred to an auditor. He grew visibly more relaxed as successive committee members spoke in favour of ending the matter rather than referring it to the courts. “I was nervous. Who wouldn’t be?” he said of his emotions going into Thursday morning’s hearing. “I am relieved now.” Dan Holt, the Elmira resident
who first challenged Hahn’s election expense statement, did not share the same opinion of the outcome. “It shows the system doesn’t work,” he said of MECAC’s decision. “The whole system is designed to protect the elected officials.” He questioned the purpose of having expense reporting rules under the Municipal Elections Act if they aren’t going to be enforced.
“The law is meaningless. Why have it all? They should just get rid of it.” Most of the MECAC members, however, decided Hahn’s contraventions weren’t significant enough to warrant action, agreeing the Ward 1 councillor wasn’t hiding anything. Rather, he had been ignorant of the rules, guilty of poor paperwork after the election.
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HAHN | 4