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Investiin of PCB levels in Whitby harbor By Kim Hawley Levels of PCBs found in Whitby harbor have been found unsafe for open water disposal. But officials say there are no indications the levels warrant environmental concern. .According to Dave Bird, Whitby environmental officer with the Ministry of the Environ- ment, concentrations of polych- lorinated diphenyl ethers have been discovered in the harbor, with those concentrations rang- ing from 0.84 to 1.6 parts per million. «These levels show no indica- tion for environmental concern,» Bird said in a telephone inter- Aids Awareness Week Aids Awareness Week is being held this week Oct. 16-22. Aids Awareness Week will be held Oct. 16-22. The Durham Aids Self Help Group is located at 22 Simcoe St. N., Oshawa. For more information call the Durham Region department of health at 723-8521. view, reading from a written repot e would not say that the .contaminant is commonly refer- red to as PCBs. Bird was also unable to say what is the acceptable level of the contaminant. "There is concern," Bird said, however, "over where it (the con- taminant) came from." He said an investigation is underway. TRACER USED TO FOLLOW PCBs On Friday, several federal and provincial government officials were at the harbor site. Dr. John Coakley, a research scientist with Environment Canada, explained that the sum- mer-long dredging of .the harbor has led to discovery of con- taminated sediments in the har- bor's water. "I've been told there are polychlorinated diphenyl ethers, or PCBs, and other chemicals." He added, "Tiey cannot be put back into the lake because it (the levels) exceeds the ministry's guidlines for open water dis- rosal." Rather, the water that has been collected by the dredger has been retained in a confined dis- posal facility (CDF). "It's supposed to stay con- fined," said Coakley, indicating that the perimeter of the five- acre CDF that surrounds the harbor is elevated. Using a tracing powder, that is disolvent in water, environmen- tal officials will be able to deter- mine if the contaminated waters are escaping back into the har- bor. Samples will be taken from the harbor, close to the confinement site, and sent to a lab for anayl- sis. The sampling will be done at least once each year, according to Coakley. If the fine tracing powder is found in the harbor water, Coak- ley indicated that would mean contaminated sediments would also be escaping back into the harbor. "It isn't very likely,butwe have to be safe.» TECHNOLOGIST Henri Lavoie mixes a tracing powder that will help to determine if contaminated substances such as PCBs are escaping back into the harbor from the nearby confined disposal facility. Fr.e Pres photÃ" Black gold: Charges laid from 1988 oi spili The Ministrr of the Environ- ment has laid charges in connec- tion with an oil spill into Pringle Creek in south Whitby in April last year. A Whitby real estate company, 690448 Ontario Inc., a Bolton demolishing company, J.P.C. Wrecking Ltd., and its manager Fiorentino Di Michele, have been charged with impairing the qua- lity of the environment. It is alleged that between April 1 and April 30, 1988, the three defendants deposited a number of 45-gallon -drums, containing grease and oil, in the basement of a power plant on Blair St. S. Mnistry investigators found that the oil flowed from the drums in the'plant's basement to a storm sewer, then into Pringle Creek. On May 1, Whitby firefighters, Town works staff and ministry taff ù. -tained much of the oil in a drainage ditch. The incident occurred follow- ing the demolition of the Blair St. S. steam plant by J.P.C. SEE PAGE 2 leaves a growing trend In one year, leaves collected by Whitby residents have turned to what some are calling "black gold.» This time last year, several residents were asked by Durham Region to participate in leaf col- lection. The Region then collec- ted the foilage and took it to a composting site. The 2,000 lbs. of leaves are now in the form of compost and the participating Whitby resi- dents can now have the compost to use in their gardens. The compost will be available at the recycling depot located on Garrard Rd. N., about a half-mile south of Conlin Rd., on Saturday, Oct. 21, between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Andrew Papinski, plant ope- rations technician for the Region's works department, says this chemical-free byproduct is a "perfect material for soi]." He adds, "People should be composting themselves. It's a qim lp t.O zq By Trudie Zavadovics at Kendalwood,» says fire chier The weekend lighting storis Ed Crouch. "It is not a common did little damage in the town of occurrence, it's been about five Whitby, but there was extensive years since something like that's damage at the Seventh Da happened." Adventist Church at 300 Kend -vood Ave. No one was in the- church at The church roof was hit by the time of the fire and it took lightning at 12:40 a.m. on Oct. firefighters about 20 minutes to 15, startincva fire that spread to extingishtheblaze. theEchu2pr.cs interior andcaused Boththe Com itby Hydro Elec- SE. ,,P ,G ES,,.1 ..M, 0,approxmately $35,000 damage. tric Commission and the Town SE E PAG ES 5 -20 Thefirè àd þòtèd y « .wrksdepatmrent*rêported only, "Since people are racking the leaves anyways, they might as well designate a part of the property as a composting site." With Durham's ongoing efforts to preserve landfills, Lapinski says individual efforts to compost would help the Region's efforts. Lapinski also says gardenors can save money by composting. He notes that garden centres sel compost for $20 to $30 per cubic yard. To make it even easier for residents to do their own com- posting, the Region is providing composting barrels and kits free of charge. The barrels can be picked up now, or on Oct. 21, at the recycling depot. Regional councillor Marcel Brunelle recently went down to the recycling depot to look at the available compost. "It's black gold,»he-said. "Anyone involved in gardening of any kind can use this liquid gold,"says Brunelle. It's first rate (compost). It's black rich and has a rich smell. It's beýautifIl." The success of Whitby's com- posting project has prompted the Region to expand the project to all municipahties this year. However, the Region will not be supplyin bas for this year's leaf collection because of the considerable cost. All regional residents are being asked to use clear bags to contain the leaves, so they can be easily identified when collected. Recycled Act of God hits church