1. REPORT ON BACKGROUND & ACTIVITIES

MARMORA T.N.T.

This volunteer Organization has been working diligently since September, 1989 on behalf of the Community and property owners in the Marmora district opposing the proposed landfill garbage dump in the Marmora mine pit. Armbro Enterprises Inc. has made their proposal to Metro Toronto, the Greater Toronto Area and presentation to Marmora & Lake Township Council, Village of Marmora and the Township of Rawdon.
Metro Toronto has a major critical problem-brought about through lack of proper planning to dispose of their waste and must explore sites throughout Ontario to solve their problem. Armbro, the owners of the 2200 acre Marmoraton mine site envisage a grand opportunity to cash in on many millions of dollars if they can get the mine approved as a dump site. They, of course, are doing everything possible to accomplish this.
T.N.T. held a Public Information Meeting on October 21, 1989. They were surprised by an attendance of 700 local people which showed their vital concern and opposition to the proposal.

The mine has become a clear, spring-fed lake. It contains rainbow trout up to 24" as well as other species of fish and is a popular historical feature of the area. It presently contains almost 2 billion gallons, 350 feet deep and has a daily in-flow of 460,000 gallons of clear, fresh groundwater. This is more than double the consumption rate of the Village of Marmora.  If undisturbed it will rise to an ultimate capacity of 5 billion gallons. What a reservoir when water is becoming so valuable! It has been officially recognized by the Ministry of Natural Resources as fish habitat as defined by the Canada Fisheries Act.
At stake in the Marmora area is tourism. With Crowe Lake on the doorstep and many lakes and rivers throughout the district, Marmora area has always been a popular vacation area. Armbro's proposal will surely destroy this.

Despite any methods they may propose for containment, we all know they will eventually fail. The inevitable contamination by leachate of the groundwater table and watersheds which drain to the Bay of Quinte will have far reaching effects.
Armbro also proposes surface dumping. They have designated a large area for this purpose, generally located east of the mine pit and close to Lily Creek and Mud Lake. Lily Creek drains directly into the Moira River watershed. Needless to say, if this mine is approved as a Metro dump site it will have a severe and devastating effect on the Marmora area which will be felt for many miles around.

The neighbouring municipalities have become very concerned about the impact of the Armbro proposal on their communities. Rawdon Township Reeve Harry Danford states; "This is the most serious environmental threat our community has ever faced. Rawdon Township is just south of the Marmora site and the groundwater flows south in this area towards Lake Ontario. As a primarily agricultural township with many dairy farms dependent on large volumes of high quality water for their operation,  this could spell disaster!"

Animals consuming contaminants through feed concentrate certain toxins in their bodies. These toxins can either be secreted in milk or beef, creating obvious health problems for the consumer. Much of the farm produce of this area is marketed in the Toronto area.

The Town of Campbellford, population, 3500, straddles the Trent River only 13 1/2 miles from Marmora. The Town draws its water from the Trent. The Crowe River, flowing through Marmora and close to the mine site, empties into Crowe Bay on the Trent just above Campbellford.

Campbellford Citizens are justifiably alarmed. They formed a Campbellford Chapter of T.N.T. and set up a Public Information Meeting on March 28, 1990. The High School gymnasium seated 1000 people and they estimated 200 more were standing. They listened to speakers from Marmora T.N.T., Conservation Authorities and politicians. The question and answer period after showed their very legitimate concerns.

T.N.T. has received solid support from all neighbouring Municipal Councils, County Councils, three Conservation Authorities, many Service Clubs and Associations and most importantly the Citizens and Taxpayers. The City of Belleville and the City of Trenton have passed resolutions against the Armbro proposal and support T.N.T. The Moira River and the Trent River flow through these cities and empty into the Bay of Quinte which is already compromised by a heavy pollution load.

On May 8, 1990 the Stirling Lions Club arranged a Public Information Meeting in the Stirling Arena. Over 800 attended and the Stirling Chapter of T.N.T. was formed. This Group has been very strong and active.
The Havelock Rotary Club hosted a Public Meeting on May 5, 1990 with another big attendence. Havelock Chapter of T.N.T. was then formed giving another wing of support.

On May 19, 1990 Marmora T.N.T. held a "Walk to the Mine" Rally. Over 2,000 supporters walked from the Village to the mine site and back to the Curling Club in Marmora where many functions took place. There was a charity auction, bake sale, raffle and other events which raised over $10,000.00 for the cause in one day!
Initially, they plan on hauling the garbage to Marmora by tractor trailer trucks. Toronto produces 12,000 tonnes daily, at 25 tonnes per load this is 480 loads, which is one load every 3 minutes around the clock, 365 days per year for 15 to 20 years! Regardless of the routing, these trucks must pass through many towns and villages, over roads that were never designed for this loading and volume of traffic. These' communities will be subjected to the spillage, litter, leachate and stench from these trucks.

After the C.P.R has re-installed the tracks from Havelock to Marmora the plan is to ship garbage from Toronto by rail. This route goes through the centre of the City of Peterborough and through the towns of Norwood and Havelock enroute.

Despite all of these common sense reasons for rejecting Marmora as a probable environmental disaster, Armbro, the G.T.A. and Metro Toronto Council continue to pursue this as a potential site.  Due to the urgency of the situation, Metro Toronto Council has been given a lot of authority and power in this regard.  We are informed that Metro Council need only to satisfy the Environmental Protection Act. The Environmental Assessment Act will likely be relaxed to expedite and facilitate the approval.

THIS IS VERY SCARY!

Marmora T.N.T. means business and has engaged the services of Roger Cotton, a highly acclaimed environmental specialist with the law firm, Baker & McKenzie, Toronto Office. As of June 1, 1990 T.N.T. had paid a membership of over 3,500 people.
This small village of 1400, which is represented by T.N.T to defend their community against this absurd proposal by Armbro is totally dedicated and committed to keep the mine site safe from garbage. They are rapidly gaining the support of 130,000 others who live within the area that would be affected by this potential environmental disaster.

Marmora continues to say no to Toronto's garbage  

by LeeAnne Cole   Community Press June 27, 1989
Marmora - Village reeve Andre Philpot and councillor Lionel Bennett recently met with representatives of Armbro and Laidlaw Inc., who are interested in utilizing the mine as a waste disposal site. Armbro owns property near the mine site, and previously operated a rock crushing business when the mine was operating. Now, however, their land is basically unused. This, prompted by encouragement from Laidlaw, caused the company to approach Marmora council with some ideas for site usage.
The possibility for an industrial site was the main thrust of Armbro's interest. They would like to use the large hole the mine created as a disposal site for Toronto garbage. It is speculated, by these companies, that 80 - 100 container cars could be disposed of in the mine each day, resulting in 20 years of use before the site was filled to capacity. This type of operation would employ approximately 75 people, and would also use recycling programs to cut down 50 per cent of the waste going into the mine.

However, the general opinion of council at their June l9 meeting was that of strong opposition to the project. According to Reeve Philpot,
"The last thing we want is Toronto's garbage, under any terms." He raised the point that Marmora is not being considered, anymore, as a
possible site for a Centre Hastings Waste Management site, so "there must be some questions related to using the site efficiently" for waste
disposal. "Laidlaw wouldn't be taking any garbage from the area and disposing of it," stressed Philpot.
"They would be dealing strictly with Toronto garbage, which wouldn't help to ease the problems of area municipalities tackling waste disposal."
Councillor Wilma Brady made a motion, seconded by Deputy-reeve John Inglis, to send a letter immediatety to Armbro and Laidlaw to condemn the project and outline council's disapproval in the matter, because, "the longer we let the possibility stick around, the more we acquiesce by not answering," said Philpot.

Councillor Lionel Bennett would not vote in favour of sending the letter, as he felt it was too early to condemn the project, which could
generate employment opportunities and boost area industrial projects. He felt council should wait until further information was obtained to
make a motion. However, the rest of council agreed with councillor Brady's motion and voted to strike down the project now.

• Eliza Deary:  I was  in 3rd grade then. My dad and a number of other musicians wrote a lot of music for it. Was a brilliant small town win!
• Terry Brown:  Betty still has her membership card.  
• Jamie McCoy:  I remember haveing the cassette with the protest song.
• Karen Sinclair:   I marched in the protest with the group from Campbellford.
• Dianne Sedore:   I still have my button and the cassette of the song written by Michael Tarry.
• Richard Deering:   Ray Black was one of the driving forces behind the movement.
• Darlene Walmsley:   A million THANKS to the TNT group who saved the Marmoraton Mine from destruction!
• Judy Vodden: I remember taking part on that march!
• Beth Reid: still have my pin and membership card
• Jessica Clement: Still have my button and a hat too
• Penny Barrons:  I still have my button.

Click here for  articles on the concept of a nuclear dumpsite in Marmora

GARBAGE IN THE MINE PIT - "Why not?"

Marmora Herald May 10, 1978

For months now the controversy, rumors and after all of this, lack,of decision,and, more importantly, lack of ANY constructive action have reigned supreme in our lovely little village.
Citizens of Marmora,  it is time to wake up to the fact that no "fairy godmother" is going to wave her hand and make our men have jobs, stores have customers and families stay here to make out town grow rather than die as families leave taking our future citizens away from this area to where the jobs are.

Observe the "For Sale" signs that already predominate in our town and remember these are not just houses being offered for sale but families
and our future leaving.   At the mere mention of bringing Toronto's garbage here people shudder with outdated concept of rotting garbage, rats, etc. - definitely a one or two person employment situation - BUT - it just is not like that any more.

Modern waste treatment sites are large employers who turn out useful products besides pay cheques in our community's economy. Glass and paper are recycled and sold as by-products, methane gas is produced and sold and no noxious fumes or odors are detectable even to the most discerning citizen. Most modern waste treatment plants look and smell like parks - not the old dumps of yesterday.

Getting to my original question - why not Toronto'i garbage?  - the answer is really,   THERE IS NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON!
 We have an excellent site (the old mine hole), the best in heavy-duty rail service directly to the site from Toronto and we definitely have the manpower right here if we act before they all move away.

Eleven rail employees are directly
involved with this particular rail line and in danger of being added to our already tragic unemployment situation - they and their famity are here - if this proposal for the GOOD of our area is realized not soon.
Otherwise, more good people will desert us than already have and our town will
become a community of people who are
retired and live on barely sustainable
incomes, unemployment Insurance recipients and welfare recipients who are in the same economic boat.

In short, businesses will go under and eventually - in the foreseeable future - so will the town.
So wake up fellow Marmorites - Walt
Disney is dead and unfortunately so is the"Fairy Godmother"    Why not Toronto's garbage --- cannonball
it down that rail line --- we're ready,
able and hopefully, more than willing to
take it!