June 30, 2009, 13 e-mails

M. E. wrote:

You can accuse me of being NIMBY if you want, but I am really scared by seeing the Dufferin Grove info on the list. If I understand it correctly, Christie Pits got garbage in the skating rink (495 tonnes). Dufferin Grove is scheduled to get 1,670 tonnes (4 times as much) in the baseball diamond & soccer field. This is an open soil area where children play, directly adjacent to the playground and immediately behind houses. I lived in Little Italy during the last garbage strike and people dumped garbage in the laneway behind my house. I ended up with rats tunnelling into my basement. It took me nearly a year to get rid of them.

While I don't support dumping in parks, I would be slightly less opposed to using the Dufferin Grove skating rink than the soccer field and baseball diamond. This should not be permitted.

Let me know if I misunderstood this document. It seems almost unbelievable that this could happen.

Please confirm the plan for Dufferin Grove park. My house backs onto the park. I have young children. Dumping in close proximity to houses is not acceptable from a health and safety point of view.

From: Councillor Giambrone

Thank you for your email.

As you know, on Thursday June 25, 2009, the City announced 19 drop-off sites for residents to dispose of their garbage. These sites are located at parking lots, arenas or parks throughout Toronto.

Drop-off sites have been chosen through careful consideration and by using specific criteria, such as being located on city-owned properties which are paved to control leeching issues, have easy access to residents and vehicles, offer reasonable buffer zones between the site and nearby residences, and are acceptable to both the Ministry of the Environment and the Medical Officer of Health. The City considered a list of 200 possible sites and, based on the criteria, chose an initial 19 to meet the needs of residents during the first weeks of the labour disruption.

Let me be clear that none of us want to see garbage drop-off locations in our city's parks. However, the current labour disruption has created extraordinary circumstances that requires measures to be taken to ensure the health and safety of Toronto residents. Centralized drop-off locations allow the City to take appropriate pest-control measures and to keep the garbage isolated from residences. They will also help ensure the garbage is removed rapidly once the strike has ended. The alternative is for more and more garbage to end up in our laneways, streets, sidewalks, yards and homes, without the means to take appropriate health precautions.

Current sites are continuing to adequately address this situation and no additional sites are being considered at this time. If and when additional sites are necessary, the City will provide public updates on alternative arrangements. Public information is also updated regularly on the City's website, through advertising and through the media. Residents can also call Access Toronto at 416-338-0338.

M. E. wrote:

Adam,

Thank you for your response. The attached document seems to indicate that the soccer field in Dufferin Grove park is designated as a secondary garbage drop off location once the primary locations have reached capacity. However, below you state that only paved areas of parks are being considered. Please confirm where in Dufferin Grove the dump is planned.

The friends if Dufferin Grove group (cc'd here) is understandably confused and concerned about the exact planned location. While many are opposed to using parks at all, I think there would be even more opposition to using the soccer field (vs. a paved area).

Thank you,

C. R. wrote:

Hear Hear! We are fortunate to have this listserve already in place. We should consider using it as a tool to organize opposition to garbage dumping in the park. I, too, would be slightly less opposed to dumping on the (paved) skating rink, but it is incomprehensible that dumping should be permitted on the greenspace, thereby poisoning it for the rest of the summer!

Indeed, as K. suggests below, now that school is out for the summer, why not use the school parking lots? There is a school directly across the street from the park, with a huge parking lot. That seems like a much more logical dump site, and much more easily cleaned up, once the strike is eventually over.

J. W. wrote:

Is it possible that the city is reluctant to use school parking lots for fear the strike won't be over before school starts?

From a negotiating position, this makes sense, as all the CUPE would have to do to gain significant advantage is point this out over and over again. In fact, doing so might prolong the strike (since CUPE would have a very strong position in early September).

I'm not a labor negotiator, so I could well be wrong about this. If I am not, it may mean it will be very, very difficult to get the city to use school parking lots rather than parks.

M. E. wrote:

The issue with school parking lots might be that the school boards own the land, not the city. Not using Green P parking lots is likely a simple economic decision – not wanting to lose the revenue.

M. C.

I wonder if somebody should contact the mall? Maybe they have a spare corner that they would be willing to allow the city to use. Imagine all the extra shoppers that would bring into the mall parking lot!

At the very least the ice rink is a better solution I agree. M

V. S. wrote:

I don't understand either why they would not use the skating rink area the way they have at Christie Pits or use the School parking lot. It makes no sense whatsoever to pile the garbage on the football field of such a well used park. It could ruin the field for play not only for the short term. I had a shed built in my back garden and had the building materials sitting on the grass for quite a few weeks while it was being built. The whole area subsided and the grass became mud. The next year I had to build up the area and re-turf as it was just a muddy patch and it has taken a couple of years to settle. That is aside from the toxicity of some of the garbage leaching into the ground which is a very scary thought indeed. If they are willing to put garbage onto grass, they would be better off putting it in the centre of High Park where at least the smell and the sight would not be immediately obvious. Or use the parking lots in High Park.

Another option could be to use part of the Dufferin Mall Parking lot like they do with the re-cycling weekend. I'm sure the stores wouldn't be too happy about that, but then again, no-one is.

M. S. wrote:

i believe there'll be another rally outside the christie dump entrance (crawford, north of bloor) today, between 5 and 7, if anyone wants to go strategize with the christie pits folks around this.

D. A.wrote:

Help, he said, hand in the air waving wildly! Clay and Paper Theatre rehearses right where the dumping in DGP is planned. Artists in DGP are, arguably at least, a hell of a lot poorer than the artists of the Dream in HP. And we employ 10 people to make our summer show happen. This plan could destroy Clay and Paper Theatre. Interesting result, eh?

We fell like crying. And fighting.

P. G. wrote:

Hello Councillor Giambrone,

It is my understanding that Dufferin Grove is one of the secondary dump locations once Christie Pits is full.

Talk has been circulating that the garbage will be dumped onto the soccer/baseball field.

Can you confirm this?

 Also, can I offer up a suggestion that they use the rink pad

instead- as they have at Christie Pits?

Garbage leaching into the grassy area possess a greater risk to humans and animals that use this area year round.

The concrete pad will contain the liquid far better and avoid resurfacing of the grassy area once the strike is resolved.

I would like you to forward my note to Joe Pennachetti City Manager, Geoff Rathbone, Solid Waste Management and Richard Butts, Deputy City Manager.

I do not have their email addresses.

Please cc me in the correspondence.

Also, is it possible to organize a "bin" on behalf of you constituents?

I would be willing to pay a fee to avoid the garbage in the park.

J. B. wrote:

I'd happily pay a fee for a bin to keep Dufferin Grove free of trash being transported from other neighbourhoods so our farmer's and children cannot use the facility. This unsanitary method of storing trash is beyond comprehension. Contaminate the soil and ignore any long term implications that has.....expropriate some parking lots for dump sites.

Toxic Waste and Frolicking Rats. Come visit our lovely city.

B. K. wrote:

I'd pay for a bin, too but I'm told it won't last more than 2 days as opposed to a couple of weeks for a tennis court. When asked if I would object to the park at the end of my street with a tennis court being used for garbage, I say no I would not object. I don't know what the alternatives are if picketers are keeping us from fully using the transfer stations. Also people without cars can access the emergency sites better. That is very important.

I also saw the news wherein a striking spokesperson comfirmed that the sick day issue is one of the biggest ones, even if it's not the only one.

I'm sorry to not sympathize when I have three unemployed people in my house with no options, sick days or extra money for a big bin.

Also I believe that when part time people take part time jobs one hopes they realize becoming full time is not necessarily in the cards.

It's the same viewpoint I take with those who buy a house by the airport and then are surprised there are airplanes disturbing them.

One of the reasons many people won't work in parks is because they know most jobs are not full time and have no benefits. (Like Wal- Mart, Sobeys, No Frills - no different)

However, as far as the harassment and abuse by the picketers goes, I think city councillors should not allow this to happen. Why are they?