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16 economist suntribune regional issues saturday nov 9 2002 ork ymphony orchestra roberto de clara music director conductor classic ti featuring mozart symphony 23 respighi the fountains of rome tchaikovsky excerpts from swan lake mendelssohh violin concerto guest artist lance marquis violinist s v trinity anglican church markham theatre 416 4100860 905 3057469 79 victoria st aurora 171 town centre blvd 1 block e of yonge st s of wellington st highway 7 warden ave sat nov 1602 800pm sun nov 1702 730pm 1 tickets adults 20 seniorsstudents 1 5 under 12 5 in partnership with the economist sun jwabd mothers against drunk driving 1800665madd this message brought to you as a community service of the economist suntribune help keep your healthy for your free heartsmart family fun pak call ll888hsfinfo this message brought to you as a community service of the economist suntribune homeowners vent wrath over dry wells bymikeadler staff writer regional officials and contractors were treated to an evening of anger this week as north markham residents lined up to denounce a troubled sewer project groundwater removal for a 16th avenue trunk sewer has apparently left dozens of town households without water and after hearing explanations of york region staff and constructor mcnallyaecon several in a crowd of 200 accused them of lying about the situation one woman pleaded for help if theyre human theyll hear us said helga bucys who said the pump in her 120well draws only small quantities of dirty water each day i cant cook with that water i cant wash the dishes with that water the major mackenzie drive resident com plained during meeting wednesday i need help desperately im in tears mcnallyaecon pumping out 1 1000 litres of groundwater a minute just west of hwy 48 to build a deep tunnel under 16th avenue admitted to main taining water tanks at 27 homes and low ering well pumps at many others but some in the audience suggested other landowners including the feder al government which rents to tenants in northeast markham have paid for pump adjustments or new wells because they werent told about the de- watering york regional council has approved a second phase of the construction and applied in june for a provincial permit to continue dewatering on 16th avenue until mid2005 residents from as far away as stouffville and the old hamlet of victoria square on woodbine avenue fearing their wells could fail demanded that the project stop until the dewater ing effects are understood in the business world stopping to reassess would be natural after such unexpected results argued ron plashkes a resident near 19th avenue and hwy 48 who suggested the region warn people as far north as bloomington road of possi ble water problems but works commissioner kees schipper said large construction proj ects and disruptive effects they cause are facts of life in greater toronto we see these dewatering impacts as temporary in nature said mr schipper who called the sewer vitally important to the region and added developers have already made investments based on the regions plans after a works employee said deter mining whether a well is permanently or only temporarily disabled should take three or four months glenn russell responded that his well failed seven months ago all of this rings very falsely mr russells wife sharon added mr schipper later defined tempo rary not as a period of months but as a seasonal effect and suggested it was unlikely regional council would spend millions to fix a temporary problem it appears to us that a tank during the dry season is a workable solution but markham deputy mayor frank scarpitti saying he is not prepared to let this community suffer for another three or four years promised to present a motion to council nov 21 asking staff to look for permanent solutions mr scarpitti chairperson of the regions planning committee said he allowed staff time to research the prob lem and isnt satisfied with the results my understanding is that there real ly isnt much change out in the field and the situation may be getting worse as they had during an earlier phase of the sewer tunneling in box grove some householders said the quality of their well water had declined i have water but its undrinkable said blake milne who held up a small jar of silt he said was typical of what his pump draws in an evening one family registered a website wwwmywellisdrycom which it said would be operating in a few days to post information ww i postcard l b used by permission of sue wilson r e m e m b e r our