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PAGE 14, WIITY FME PRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1991 PC pOsai a o fming PROM PAGE 1 can Jean on . meanwhile we have a ship owner playing every legal, angle in the ý book,"l said Fox. CI really think it's time that if the fede and province consider the environment'important, they should. bring in legisiation -te protect us.». .Fox said it. was net until dis- cussions; aimed at finding a solu- tion to the PCB problem, beated- up in recent. montbs that he discovered how littie legisiation eists to deal with this situation. "Hie (Robinson) can come onto public lands, unload it and leave- it there and there's notbing any level of governnient can do, said FOX. "If I hadn't been on the inside and heard some of the things that have been said I wouldn't believe it» Federal environinent officiais were net available for comment, but Ontario riding MP Rene Soe- tons comfirmedg the I atest soenario. "ltesmfiy undorstariding that as Of (last) Thursd ay trn the transformers will be lifted off the boat and stored on the pier,» said Soetens. 1 Tbfey would stilI be under federal jurisdiction and stored in an environmentally correct man- nor.» Soetens said the transformer. will be- placed in an «environ pack" whicb is an «environmen- tally sensitive" method of storage. Federal officiaIs have agreed te this plan as a - tompora solu- tion, said Sootens. ýa "It would get the PCBs off t>$ boat and out'of the water, n (Robinson) cahi then selI the boat,» said Sootens. Althou ýh some machinery w&gs Iifted off the ship Igst weeIý, Soetens did not know! if it was the transformera or more of the vessel'é generators. "This i. certainly a sbort-term measure, I wouldn't want te see it sit there a long time," said Soetens. "It's just for the short-term until the province approves a storage site and if it's in a proper container.» Fox, however, questions the wisdom of thiîs plan. «This environ pack i. just a bomemade job by Art Robinson. Where are the safeguards? Will it hold together?" asked Fox. uI'm doing a slow burn on this one. Thero are no safeguards borîe whatsoever." Fox clainis that if not for Dur- bain Region ordering an inspoc- tor to ,bo present when the trans- fer occurs, "there would be no one down there." He again castigated senior levels of gernment for allowing the problein to last this long. «If the environmient was really a concern this situation would have been cleared up years ago,» said Fox.. Robinson was ordered by Environment Canada te remove the PCB. and othor oils from the boat following a sinking last December. But after Robinson made efforts to. ensure the boat'. safety federal officiais- relented' and did not proceed with the dlean-up order. h~i maki'ng, their decision, they notebd that1 Robinson had1* no other options once the 'Town1 registered itsj objections to Robin- so.proos solution. In Februa, Town council objected to Robinson's applica- tiorP to the province for permis- sio to store, the PCBs at a sit adjacent to lis wrecking yard in north Whitb>{. Until outst.andingflre tode vio- lations and , municipal. bylaw charges against Robinson in con- nection wiith: 100,000 used tires stored at thé yard are Iresolved, the Town wili not cons ider the aThe Onitario, Ministry of Environment, which would approve the application, will not do so against the Town's wishes. One possible site being con- sidered for the PCB, is Whitby Hydro'. storage facility on Taun- ton Rd. While Fox supports this pro- posai, lhe said it should only. be viewed as an interim measure as well. "I would be. in favour of the PCB.j being temrorarily stored there until the federal govern- ment puts us on the list to incinerate and neutralize them,» said Fox. Whitby Hydro Electric Com- mission geeneral manager Tom Maysaid that while the utility wilrItake the PCBs, no deal has been struck with the province. May said the 'environment ministry muet agree te certain conditions mposed by the comn- mission beore Whitby Hydro accepte the PCBs. Specifically, the commission wants the province to take res- ponsibilit for the! PCB. but the miisri'h not yet agreedi to do 130. '«he commission as a, com-. munity service I~ud be willing te tak7e the PCBs'bu the utility i. not wilhng to tae the respon-. sibility,» said May., "Whoe*ver takes. resjponsibility for them, wouldn't take responsi- bilityfo ours. If there's some kind of disaster, who would be responsible?» .Mayrsaid the ministry has given no indication when it will respond te, the commission'. con- ditions.1 «I understand it would go to the minister (Ruth Grier) herseif, Tm told it. could take some time,»" said May. "It would be extremely pre- mature te say this is a fait accomplIi," added May. Ministry spokesman John Steele confirmed that the pro- vince prefers the Whitby Hydro site. «Thiere are niatters that have te be worked out and it needs approval from the government before it can go abead,» said Steele. "If we can get approval that'. where they'll go."» But Steele said no decision will be made for at least a month. «It could be somewhere bet- ween four and 15 weeks from now,» said Steele. Steee said the ministry cannot interfere in Robinson's plan te dry-dock the transformer. "7eyre bis PCBs, they're on the boat and it's in federal juris- diction," said Steele. Meanwhile, the future owner of the Prince Edward Island waits patiently for the matter te be sottled. Mary Ellen Donnolly said she and ber huàband still intend te refurbish the, vessel but no longer plan tekeep it in Whitby. Donnelly.said Toronto officiàls, have agreed te llet the Donnellys set up s op on their waterfront. «It's net going te b sold for scrap. As soon as we get a dlean bill of» health it's going te Toronto,» said Donnelly. The couple decided te seek a new home for the PEI «because we gt sucb a bard time from the TPown, said Donnelly. (Town council refused te meet with Donnelly earlier this year te discuss her plans for the boat.) «They're (council) going te, loso big," Donnolly predicted. "Welqucomne home" rally. for troops The Durham chapter of Oe ration Maplo Leaf and the Cityr of Oshawa ýwill hold a 'Wolcome H-ome Rally' for Canadian troops on -Sunday, April 7, 1 p.m. at the Oshawa Civic Auditorium. The rally will include a trooper froms tean gl, military personnel brs bn,rgn *saluto, local digntres and untying of yellow . bbo during the tribute to men and women who serv'ed in the gulf. Broolin rofl Phione 668-6111, Controversial MPPcoresto Dura By Mike Kowali The "bad boy» of Ontario poli- tics is coming te Durham Region. Former provincial cabinet minister Peer Kormos will- be &aest speaker at a fundraising dinner in Oshawa Saturday for local New Democrats. Until his ouster from cabinet last month by Premier Bob Rae Kormos served as minister o# financial institutions and con- sumer affaire. Althougb the controversial MPP was bounced from the NDP front benches, be continues te represent bis riding of Welland- Thorold as a membor of the government party. Wbile area New Domocrats admit there were srome ýmisgi*v- ings about baving Kormos speak 50 soon after bis firing, tbey felt bis invitation could not be revoked. (Kormos was invited prior te bis dimissal. He was asked te, be g.est speaker after the original ch<oîce, Re. ironically,, was net available.) One riding association pre- sident sad the maj.ority of people he bas talked with feel Konios was done an injustice by Rae. «There's no question Peter mnade a mistako with the Sun," said Sid Ryan, president of the Durhamn Centre NDP. (Kormes posed fully clotbed, as a Toronite àun newspaper «Sunsbino Boy". The pbotegraph appeared the day afterhge announced a crackdown on sex- ism in liquor advertisiný.) «I féel that Fin in touch with the grass roots,» said Ryan, wbo is aise president of the Canadin Union of Public Employees local at Pickering nuclear station. 'The vast majority of people that I talk te su port Peter Kormos, thoy don't fee1 upset by it. Ryan bas no objections te Kor- PETER KORMOS mes' actions and* feels the MPP was the victim »of a «smear cain- paign" by the media. Ryan said ne new facts about Kormnos' ýpast emerged in the day. leadingite bis firina. (Kormos' rbshes with the law and baving a convicted wife- beater on staff wero -known te Rae' and public knowledge te seme degree.) "The information was aIl old, there was notbing now," said Ryan."IthikM Rae was a little basty.» Wehrhaving Kormos sjek what ho says,» said Durham East riding president James Reid. "lie may tomnp r bis commente witb other MPP. there,» said ]Reid. While there was some senti- ment expressed by local New Democrats te revoke Kormos' in- vitationi,, theý' Were in -the niinority, said Reid. «If bis remarks are unfavour- Iable te Bob Rae there could be consternation,' admitted Reid. "If, in fact, ho dees show up,» Reid dded.' A " pkesman for Kormnos told The Cre Press the MPP will attend Saturday's function. Dinner erganizèr Nester Pid- werbecki was adamant that Kor- mes is «not coming te Rae or partybash.» Pidwerbecki said that. witb the exception of former Oshawa MP and federal NDP leader Ed Broadbent, local New Democrats bave always bad «out of town" guest speakers address tbe din- ner. «We were teld he is a dynamic speaker, Fim sure ho will deligbt everyone with bis delivey»si Pidwerbecki.vr,»si Saturdays dinner will be beld FamilyNigrht A '4-H Family Info Nigbt' will be held on Thursday April 4, 7 te 9 -p.m., at the Brooýl United Churceh education building. The 'evening will include demonstrations and bands-on presentations by tbo beef, dairy, plowing and herse clubs'iii the agricultural, divisions, and 'Fit- nos. and Health,' 'Safety Firet,' 'A Greener House,ý"Our Ïlien- tage' and 'Protecting Planet Eartb' clubs in,-the domestic science division of 4-H. infb1,mmae, at the General Sikorski hall in Oshawa. Tickets are $60 for general admission and $100 for bost. Tai receipts are available. For further 'information cal (416) 723-5917. Papjwer drive 2nd Brooklin scouts will bold a paper drvo in Brooklin on Satur- day, .April 13, starting at 9:30 a.m. Nowspapers, should be tied, and sbmyý paper (magazines) or beavy bindings ( telephone brooks) should not be included for pick-up. Wheels to Meals The noît Wbeels te, Meals will be bold i Brooklin, jAàhburn and Myrtle on Wednesday, Apnil 10, at noon. Lunches are beld at ist. Tho- mas Memorial Hall, Brooklin, If transportation i. needed, cali 655-4284. Seniors and shut-ins or dis- abled of ail ages are welcome. Cost is $2.50 per person. Learning the Ropes Pays Off A 4 I j., - -, I ý 1 1