July 4, 2009, 16 e-mails

B. S. wrote:

CUPE rally at the Dump, right now, about 100 supporters marching in a circle, flags, traffic jam ...

S. M. wrote:

Are residents still blocking pesticides? B. said it was CUPE, but this article and more http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/660847 say it's residents as well. Can you clarify please?

M. c. wrote:

I dont believe it is the residents - if you look at an earlier email(from B.) it says that it was CUPE and that the police said they couldn't interfere as it was the unions right to action.

I think some calls/mails/comments on the Stars story might help to set the record straight.

B. S. wrote:

We have just learned that the City is aiming for a court injunction to have the pest control contractors spray the temporary dump sites. The court will be in session at 361 University Avenue at 13:00 today.

S. M. wrote:

So now we know why they're rallying. When the city gets their injunction, there will be 100 people to remove.

I hope they can spray soon if they're not going to take the garbage away. Here's some reading for those who don't know what house fly infestation means:

http://bugs.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/flies/house_fly.htm

"The most important damage related with this insect is the annoyance and the indirect damage produced by the potential transmission of pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and nematodes) associated with this fly. Pathogenic organisms are picked up by flies from garbage, sewage and other sources of filth, and then transferred on their mouthparts, through their vomitus, feces and contaminated external body parts to human and animal food.

Of particular concern is the movement of flies from animal or human feces to food that will be eaten uncooked by humans. Also, when consumed by flies, some pathogens can be harbored in the mouthparts or alimentary canal for several days, and then be transmitted when flies defecate or regurgitate. In situations where plumbing is lacking, such as open latrines, serious health problems can develop, especially if there are outdoor food markets, hospitals, or slaughter houses nearby. Among the pathogens commonly transmitted by house flies are Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, Escherichia, Enterococcus, Chlamydia, and many other species that cause illness. These flies are most commonly linked to outbreaks of diarrhea and shigellosis, but also are implicated in transmission of food poisoning, typhoid fever, dysentery, tuberculosis, anthrax, ophthalmia, and parasitic worms."

An intestinal illness could be devastating to a pregnancy, and there's a pregnant woman 30 meters from the site. Please, make it clear that the residents support and demand spraying now, if indeed everyone is in agreement. I, for one, support and demand spraying for her sake.

G. R. wrote:

Residents on the street and members of FCP have been involved in turning away the company contracted to spray when they have been there. We are not there all of the time, but CUPE is. So, there might be two local residents and the rest of the people are CUPE. Sometimes it is only CUPE.

On Thursday and Friday I organized regular shifts, but there is no such plan for Saturday or Sunday. However, there are many people at the dump right now, so I am not sure what their response will be when the court injunction is served after 1pm.

Neither I, nor anyone I have spoken to in our group, has ever supported blocking a court injunction. I plan to simply witness the serving of the injunction.

I encourage you to come to the dump yourself to investigate the situation.

H. S. wrote:

I just published an article that reflects more correctly what happened Friday night:

" TOStrike: Dinner in the Dumps - Why Christie Pits could not have been sprayed Friday night, Orkin contractor had unsafe boots "

Short url: http://T.oronto.ca/7v3

Because events are changing fast, I would ask that FCPP members leave comments on the above post with any new developments or thoughts on the matter.

I have more articles almost ready to be published. Aiming to publish online today asap, again on http://T.oronto.ca

http://Torontopedia.ca/ParksAreNotDumps wiki page is still being updated as I get time this afternoon.

Keep Smilin' Folks

A. S. wrote:

M. the place the city has mentioned on their list for dumping at Dufferin Grove is on the soccer fields.Hopefully this wont happen.

V. S. wrote:

A friend who lives in that neighbourhood said she heard that the Seaton Village Residents Association was planning to rent a dumpster so perhaps your son could look into that. Also he and his friends could check out http://www.craigslist.ca as there are numerous ads from people willing to collect garbage at $5 a bag and take it to one of the dumps, like Jeremy did on this list. It's cheaper than the subway, although there was an article in The Star about an elderly pensioner who took the bus to take her garbage to a dump a distance from her home.

K. wrote:

According to the City, the closure of the sites is because they have reached capacity. Whether or not this is actually true of CP or not, or they are just looking for a way to diffuse the situation there I don't know. Last time I went by there (Wed) it didnt look that full, but I know the Health Inspector said there were issues. So I dont know if the closure has anything to do with the protests or not.

I dont know that I'm personally unhappy about CP being used-but then, I dont live next to it. I can certainly feel for those who do. I would also be concerned about, pesticides and rats and so on if I did.

It's certainly true that the garbage has to go somewhere and not everyone can get to the transfer stations. What a problem! Can't envy the people who have to make the decisions about where the garbage dumps go. Can't envy the people who need to get rid of garbage and just get a hassle wherever they go.

I spoke with Kevin at the councillor BBQ this afternoon and he said there was no information on the opening of the DG site or any other site in the neighborhood to make up for the CP site closure. He will be looking into whether they mean to use the field or the rink should the DG site open in future. It does sound like the councillors themselves have very little say in all of this. Also that they do not get much more advance notice than the general public is getting about the site changes.

Maybe if theres anything positive about this, it will be that people will start to think more about how much garbage they are generating and how they can minimize that.

B. K. wrote:

Where are people taking their garbage? Is anyone responding?

Christie pits closes today and it's not even half filled.

No dumping was ever intended on grassy areas despite the claims!

Pantalone has satisfied the NOT IN MY BACKYARD-ers at the cost of everyone else in the city and I am very disappointed.

Where do we take our garbage in the area? Are they going to trade Christie Pits for Dufferin Grove? Was that really necessary?

Where do you take your garbage "Friends of Christie Pits"? The Star says you prevented spraying so now our rat population will fluourish.

K. wrote:

Hey B., I don't know about anyone else, but I have not had to take garbage anywhere yet. I will have to do so fairly soon though and I'm not sure where I will go. I won't be able to wait for 4 hours at a transfer station so unless conditions there have improved it would have to one of the tempory sites somewhere. I dont know which of these is acceptable from a community viewpoint.

I certainly hope that striking picketers have changed their approach to people trying to use the dumpsites. I agreee with you 100% that they should not be hassling people getting rid of garbage. Their beef is not with the public and the public should never have been harassed by them under the circumstances.

B. K. wrote:

I have a question. Is this necessary if they are closing Christies Pits as a dump site (on the news) on Sunday?

Also, as far as toxic chemicals in the garbage -- they ripped open the bags my husband took to Christie Pits yesterday to make sure the garbage was acceptable. THERE ARE NO TOXIC CHEMICALS BEING BROUGHT IN so I assume you refer to the pesticides used for keeping rats down.

The only thing scary in the flyer is the flyer's wording. I must say this is the kind of scare tactics politicians use to win elections.

I've looked all over for evidence of the truth in the dumping of garbage on non paved areas. Please advise.

I'm curious as to where it is written about the dumping of garbage on the playing fields.

When I took my garbage to Christie Pits yesterday the skating area is less than half full and yet it appears that it's being closed toady..

I have emailed Pantalone's office asking him to keep the dumpsite open unless there is actualy writing citing the dumping of waste on the soccer field and baseball diamond.

I hope those in Bloorcourt Village who will be inconvenienced even further by the moving of this site will do the same.

I am hoping neighbours will help each other out in getting those without cars to dumpsites.

I also hope those blocking the rat controlling substances will desist as i already have a raccoon problem with my garbage.

I also hope Erella is not censoring messages who oppose the views of the Christie Pits protesters. I merely send them as I believe a 'NOT IN MY BACKYARD' movement sends a message that we are anti the well being of the Rest of Toronto.

V. S. wrote:

In response to B.'s email.

After receiving the response from Councillor Giambrone's office, I won't send out the flyer. If things change then it can be ready to go. I am referring to the spraying and I think the idea of pesticides being sprayed is scary particularly if the garbage is kept on the soccer field and baseball diamond in DGP which means the spray will leach into the soil, hence the wording of the flyer. I also hate the idea of the rat population expanding without it so we are in a no-win situation but better have the spraying in the skating rink than the field so it can be cleaned up hopefully much more easily.

There was a list that was sent out on this listserv that sited that the soccer field and baseball diamond would be used at Dufferin Grove Park whereas the majority of the rest of the sites were on paved areas. I questioned Councillor Giambrone as to why they did not choose the paved skating rinks in our park. In his response, Councillor Giambrone's assistant stated as follows that the list "represents a preliminary assessment for contingency planning purposes done several months ago. It does not reflect the evaluative work that needs to be done against the specific criteria mentioned below. It also does not reflect the necessary approvals for any potential site from the Ministry of the Environment and the Medical Office of Health."

With regard to the Christie Pits dump closing, maybe they have decided to spread the pain around a little. I certainly sympathise with the people living around the park.

B. K. wrote:

I still am trying to find out where Friends of Christie Pits are dumping their garbage, because I need an alternative if CP closed today. No one will give me an answer.

Also, friends without cars need a ride to those dump sites.

Noone on the Dufferin Grove listserve will tell me where the Christie Pits dumpers are dumping. I just keep getting messages about flyers and toxic leaching (even though protesters are stopping the rat poison -- I hope your raccon population is in check, cause mine is in my garbage) and dumping on soccer fields (this is uncomfirmed) and baseball diamonds.

all I know is that if they're not at your park then they're at someone's and the NOT IN MY BACKYARD folks don't care about the rest of Torontonians in non-Christie Pits Toronto.

Also, people should not be harassed by either strikers or tree lovers.

Incidently, a sign against dumping was NAILED TO A TREE at Christie pits. How bad is that?

Please, again. where are you dumping, those of you who oppose Christie Pits as a dumpsite?

If I don't get an answer pretty soon , I'm going to assume the worst.

B. S. wrote:

I spent the lovely sunny Saturday afternoon in a sixth floor courtroom of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. At issue was the Notice of Motion for an interim injunction that the city requested, to restrain CUPE Local 416 and "other presently unidentified picketers" from blocking access of the City's pesticide contractor to the Christie Pits Dump. In the reasoning for the order, the City's counsel had specifically named us bystanders and observers on Thursday as follows:

"Approximately 7 picketers from the Union, plus other persons, formed a blockade at the entrance to Christie Pits and denied the City's pest control contractors access to the property.""

Those who were there, know that in fact none of the citizens blocked anyone's access. Moreover, the text reads

"[...] this Notice of Motion has been handed out at the Christie Pits location [on Sunday morning] to those on the picket line as of this morning at the time when the pest control truck was attempting to gain access to Christie Pits."

How do I know? That's because I was handed the document as I was walking back to my home, to refill my morning coffee. I guess that places me "on the picket line" somehow, which would be a first for me. Actually the pesticide contractor had been nowhere in sight (I heard that he did not arrive until a quarter to one). Then CUPE invited me to come down to court at 1:00, to say something.

So there I was.

It was actually interesting. This was certainly not simply a quick, formal deliberation of technicalities, but a real court case, with sworn witnesses - Reg Ayre who had written up the health order, the two city managers who had delivered it, the police sergeant who had decided not to intervene into a picket line, and the pesticide contractor - and with intense cross examination. I made a couple of pages of notes and will probably go over them at a later time; but here is a brief summary:

The Union counsel's strategy was to argue that a court injunction in a labour dispute was an "extraordinary remedy", and to demonstrate that the city had failed to exploit all other means of attempting access - i.e. they had not actually *tried* to access the site (true, they hadn't even opened the gate for the truck), but had essentially turned away when CUPE told them they were not getting in.

The City on the other hand argued that a health order had been served requiring them to act, and they were not obliged to escalate the situation on the street in order to be allowed a motion to obtain an injunction.

After the two counsel's submissions, I was invited by Madam Justice Harrison-Young to make a "representation" - not sworn testimony. I have attached my draft below in case you are interested.

The judge granted the motion, after more than five hours of examinations and discussion. I believe in the end the argument prevailed that on Thursday the police had dismissed the City's request and as of that time the City had really no legal recourse other than an injunction.

Therefore, the spraying will resume. However the motion does not mention the sewage truck that was to pump out the leachate. That will stay. Or leak away.

So who won? On one hand, this case was about the Union's job action strategy, not about our health and environmental concerns. These are two separate issues. From my (our) perspective, we didn't win, and we couldn't have. The choice today was between toxins in the park and flies in our homes. There was no winning outcome in that. The alternative, to forbid using parks as dumps, was not before the court today.

I have heard that our neighbour who lives right next to the dump and his pregnant wife have left the country this morning. The stench, stress and worries had become unbearable.

When I got home - my head still spinning - I just caught the last moments of our wonderful, annual "Crawfeast" in the little parquette on the street. Then we projected Wall-E on a bedsheet, I hadn't seen it before, it was just the right thing to get me grounded again.

You know you've had a strange day when you spent it at court, and it takes Wall-E to bring you back in touch with reality.

B.

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Representation before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice In the Case 09-CV-382349 City of Toronto vs. CUPE LOCAL 416 and OTHER PRESENTLY UNIDENTIFIED PICKETERS

B. S.: As a resident living a few steps from the temporary garbage dump in Christie Pits, I have witnessed the ongoing picketing activities and can comment on the community involvement. I have observed how a truck labelled with Orkin Inc. attempted to enter the site on Sunday, June 28. At this time citizens were present with signs and fliers to inform those who wished to dump their garbage into the park that alternatives exist, in particular at the transfer stations. The Orkin employee refused to answer our questions what he was going to spray, in his own words such information would not be provided to "common citizens". Residents and other concerned citizens then prevented the access of the truck to the site by standing on the sidewalk.

I then proceeded on my own private initiative to seek information on the pest control protocol from the city and three MSDS sheets were provided to me on the next day by Mr. Reg Ayre. I posted these MSDS on the Google mailing list of our neighborhood community group, Friends of Christie Pits Park, a group that is normally active in organizing pizza nights in the park and recently an organic community garden; many of our members are however opposing the garbage dump in the park.

After studying the medical literature available to me, I concluded that the substances to be applied by the city - Permethrin, Benzalkonium chloride and Difethialone - are considered reasonably safe for humans in Public Health applications. There are however environmental concerns and off-target effects of these toxins. I have summarized this information and again posted it on our mailing list, on Canada Day, July 1.

I have further learned that the stagnant water that is pooling in the ice rink and in part escaping through cracks is not only laden with these pesticides and disinfectants, but poses unique and unpredictable hazards in and of itself. I have come to the conclusion that while the spraying of pesticides and disinfectants may mitigate the situation, it will not eliminate the hazards to human health and to the environment that currently exist in Christie Park and likely in the other parks, where the city is operating temporary dump sites in locations that are not appropriate for the storage of human excrements, household refuse and decomposing organic materials.

Pest control through external spraying cannot solve the problems posed by putrescible garbage that as I have observed is decomposing in leaking trash bags. It can mitigate the problems but they can only be solved through removal.

To my knowledge there is no ongoing picketing action by citizens that would prevent the access of pest control contractors. Citizens - and that includes me - have stated on numerous occasions that we will not be involved in or condone illegal activities. However, in my respect for the law and the interest of the common good, I am firmly committed to the demand that the temporary dump sites must be closed and the garbage removed to professionally managed locations where all hazards can be brought under control.

Content last modified on July 05, 2009, at 05:20 AM EST