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6 economist sunsuntribune saturday oct 22 2005 s 1 stouffville mrm suntnbune a metroland community newspaper 34 civic ave 3rd floor stouffville on l4a 7z5 publisher ian proudfoot eorror in chief debora kelly business manager robert lazurko director production interactive media john fiahey advertising director retail flyer sales nicole fletcher advertising director classified real estate events management gord paolucci distribution director circulation barry black director circulation systems lynn pashko marketingpartnerships director debra weller york region printing general manager bob dean letters to the editor big pipe yorks best option re region should assign value to water being wasted letter to the editor by clyde smith oct 6 york region places an extremely high value on our water resources including ensuring only temporary environmental disruption takes place on our wastewater infrastructure projects the york durham sewage system ydss is critical to ensuring adequate wastewater treatment for current and future residents it is the best option for managing the large amounts of wastewater produced by residents and businesses any time a pipe is installed there is a good chance groundwater will be encountered in such cases it is necessary to pump the aquifer down to temporarily lower the water level in the immediate vicinity while the sewer is being constructed when construction is complete the aquifer levels always return to the original levels credible scientific evidence proves this aquifer levels have already returned to normal in areas where construction has been recently completed the region is using stateoftheart tech nology in its construction of the sewer including a gravitybased system that is vir tually trouble free and used in more than 99 per cent of municipally serviced systems york region has also spent more than 3 million on extensive hydrogeological stud ies to determine the areas that will be affect ed by dewatering and we take proactive steps to address any temporary impact the region has committed 30 million to a comprehensive environmental moni toring and mitigation program to assist residents who may be impacted due to regional- infrastructure projects the region continues to ask residents who believe their wells have been impact ed by regional construction in the area sur rounding the 16th avenue trunk sewer to call our tollfree 24hour hotline at 1-888- 4454418 to have their individual situa tions assessed all calls are returned with in four hours and wells are assessed within 24 hours those affected by construction projects will have access to drinking water and have their wells modified if required low well levels can be caused by a num ber of factors including droughtlike con ditions experienced this summer infre quent well maintenance mechanical fail ure and other water takers in the area such as properties with artesian ponds the region remains committed to pro viding residents with the highest quality of wastewater service in the most environ mentally friendly means possible bruce macgregor commissioner of transportation and works regional municipality of york i ywfrn a dolighancom pass the sugar but keep uf ban legends to yourself ave you heard why tim hortons coffee is so addictive they put nicotine in it really i just heard this from somebody who knows someone who says its true cause he saw it on tv timmys is a certifiable addic tion in my house though i prefer the coffee while my principessa del castello prefers timmys tea with about 70 of their 2400 stores in york region its quite possible youre an addict too but the foaf friend of a friend in the vernacular of urban legend fans was passing along a pretty dated myth way back in february 2004 cbcs news pro gram disclosure investigated the nicotineintimscoffee rumour and demonstrated it is not only false but silly in fact cbc found tims coffee had lower caffeine levels than starbucks or second cup it would be illegal dangerous and stupid for a food vendor to introduce any foreign substance let alone nicotine after spilling a cup of coffee on her leg an american woman was able to successfully sue mcdonalds for making it too hot imagine what the government and the lawyers would do to a compa ny adding poison to its wares and poison it is measured by volume nicotine is deadlier than either strychnine or arsenic tim hortons repelled the krispy kreme invasion not through secret additives but through its quality pricing and ubiquitous advertising but did you know you mustnt use plastic containers in your microwave or youll get cancer this disturbing fact was brought to my attention like so much useless information these days via email turns out some doctor went on local tv in hawaii in 2002 and speculated about the potential danger of microwaved plastic and the urban legend has stayed alive ever since arriving in my mailbox just last month fortunately as much as the internet perpetuates these myths it also can rectify them the excel lent website snopescom addresses the microwaveplastic nonsense nicely bruce annan its a pretty good assumption that if using plastic containers in microwaves as millions of peo ple have been doing for decades posed a significant risk of cancer youd be hearing about it some where other than an email for ward of an anonymous summary of a morning news spot on a hawaiian television station perhaps thats why the false hood later mutated into an alleged study at johns hopkins university which institution was forced last year to issue an official denial in york region a favourite recurring urban legend involves paramount canadas wonderland a child is abducted her hair dyedshavedbewigged and her appearance otherwise disguised security seals all the exits and tells the parents to look only at chil drens shoes as they file past they recognize their daughters sneakers and the little girl is saved even before computers boys and girls people believed nonsense the internet just moves it faster and piles it higher and deeper it never happened of course either at wonderland or disneyworld or walmart where it was reported to have happened at least as far back as 1999 yet people want so badly to believe these tales newspapers are often accused of covering up the real story back when the earths crust was still cooling i was a journalistic pup in oshawa our newsroom received numerous calls from excited read ers telling us about a huge house north of the city it looked sort of like the ranchhouse on bonanza note to young readers go search bonanza on google im talking about an old tv show here overnight this became a local urban legend the shows star was building his own ponderosa and returning to live in canada finally to stem the rumours we phoned hollywood and talked to his agent he can afford to live anywhere on earth she sniffed why would lome greene want to live in oshawa after living there for nearly a decade those were my sentiments exactly even before computers boys and girls people believed non sense the internet just moves it faster and piles it higher and deep er bruce annan is a york region writer and consultant he can be reached as bruceannangmailcom comments regard ing this column for the letters page can be sent to newsroomvaughancitizencom letters policy the suntribune welcomes your letters submissions must be less than 100 words and include a daytime telephone number name and address the suntribune reserves the right to publish or not publish and edit for clarity and space letters to the editor the suntribune 34 civic ave 60x154 stouffville on l4a7z5 jmasoneymgcom editorial production managing director new editorial suntnbune a york region newspaper group community newspaper editor manager business flyer sales 9055131717 jim mason jmasonyrngcom pam nichols pnicholsyrngcom dawna andrews itandrewsyrngcom fax9055137525 administration advertising managing director advertising 9055131717 classified the suntribune published every thursday and saturday is a member of the metroland printing publishing and distributing office manager classified manager real estate 18007433353fax 9058531765 ltd a whollyowned subsidiary of torstar corporation metroland vivian oneil ann campbell mikerogerson is comprised of 70 community publications across ontario the ifoncilsyrngcom aaimpbcllymgcom mrogersonymgcom distribution york region newspaper group includes the liberal serving events management retail manager 9055131717 richmond hill andthomhillvaughan citizen the economist sun markhamthe erabanner newmarketaurora stouffville shows manager staceyallen ctousiomlidell prm ope suntribune georgina advocate york region business times bonnie rondeau sallenyrngcom au board member e north of the city yorkregioncom and york region printing brondeauyrngcom