Treatment plant expansion concerns Native Council leader

PAge 7

Natives are being urged to take part in public meetings dealing with the proposed expansion of the Swan Hills treatment plant.

Doris Ronnenberg, president of the Native Council of Canada (Alberta), said it's important for Natives living near the plant, 170 km northwest of Edmonton, to educate themselves on toxic wastes.

Ronnenberg said many Natives are affected by the plant making it essential for them to participate in its future.

"We can't always rely on environmentalists. We have to get more involved because they may have a different agenda. Aboriginals have got to come forward, listen and analyse."

Ronnenberg said the provincial government, part owner of the facility, "had better take aboriginal concerns seriously because our treaty and aboriginal rights in terms of wildlife and resources has to be considered."

The Sawridge band, the East Prairie Metis settlement, the Swan River band, the Sucker Creek band and a number of other settlements and reserves are located near the plant.

Ronnenberg said Natives weren't consulted when the plant was built in 1987.

Chem-Security, operators of the plant and host of the information meetings, will detail the impact of the proposed $60-million rotary kiln.

The furnace is needed to handle a backlog of 100,000 tonnes of toxic solid waste piling up in landfills and industry sites across the province, said Ken Simpson of the Alberta Special Waste Management Corporation.

Currently the plant can only burn 15,000 tonnes of waste a year.

Chem-Security maintains the impact on wildlife, fish and rivers will be minor, but Ronnenberg is concerned about air and water quality, fish, wildlife and vegetation because of arsenic and PCBs to be emitted from the proposed kiln.

Fish in Windy Lake near Swan Hills are contaminated with mercury but Alberta Fish and Wildlife hasn't been able to make a connection to the plant.

Public input will be gathered at 17 meetings across the province until the end of May. The first will be held at Swan Hills April 16.

Expansion activities are due to start this fall and be completed in late 1993 or early 1994.