Chemtura fined $150,000 for chemical release
Chemtura Co. has been fined $150,000 for a 2010 incident that saw chemical contaminants rain down on parts of Elmira.
Approximately 4,200 kilograms of BLE 25, a mixture of diphenylamine and acetone used as an antioxidant in the making of some rubber products, and 112 kg of acetone were released Sept. 27, 2010 when a rupture disc burst as designed due to the pressure build-up in the storage vessel. The company subsequently spent $1.7 million to clean cars, houses and other personal property of nearly 300 affected neighbours in the immediate area, as well as its own property.
Since the incident, Chemtura has taken steps to ensure something like this won’t happen again, said plant manager Josef Olegarz.
The company has added new layers of protection, including interlocks, changes to the process alert/alarm system to include visual and audio triggers to allow for earlier detection and new staff training. As well, no processes will run unattended: leading up to the incident in 2010, there were no operators present to heed visual and audible alerts.
As a result of the release, Chemtura reviewed the processes in place throughout the facility, he said.
“We don’t see issues with other parts of the plant.”
Chemtura has also changed its communications procedures so that there are no delays in alerting the public in the event of a problem at the chemical plant. The company was criticized for the slow process following the BLE releases, taking more than four hours to notify Woolwich Township officials. It did, however, inform the Ministry of the Environment and Waterloo Region’s spill centre immediately after the incident.
The incident occurred at 3 p.m., but with the township out of the loop for so long, it was almost 10 p.m. before the Community Alert Network systems was activated, with automated phone calls going out to some 850 households in the area nearest the plant. As a precaution, notification also went out to locations deemed more vulnerable, such as schools and nursing homes.
Facing complaints from residents immediately following the incident, the township laid the blame for the delays squarely on Chemtura.
Olegarz said the company has fixed the process, and apologized for both the release and the lag time in notifying residents. A year and half later, he is satisfied with the cleanup effort, noting he’s not hearing any complaints from residents.
“Everything that could be done has been done.”
Chemtura is still looking for feedback, though: a community meeting has been scheduled for June 19, tentatively set for Lions Hall, to allow those affected by the BLE release to meet with company officials and to learn what steps have been taken in the aftermath.
Regulators need to heed the call…
It’s a safe bet to guess where most Canadians stand on the prospect of Bell being hit with a $100-million class action lawsuit. A Toronto law firm, acting on behalf of an Elliot Lake woman, has served notice to Bell Mobility and its parent company, BCE Inc., alleging that expiry dates on pre-paid wireless services are illegal. Anyone who’s ever dealt with cell phone services in this country will be cheering on Celia Sankar.
Chances are if you have a cell phone – and 77 per cent of Ontarians do – that you feel like you’re being treated poorly, with high rates and unfair contracts. The reason you feel that way is because that’s just what’s happening: studies consistently show we pay among the highest fees – for regular monthly charges, roaming and data, among others – in comparisons with Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.
The reason? Lack of competition, with the bulk of the market cornered by the Big Three: Bell, Rogers and Telus.
That, says the advocacy group OpenMedia.ca, has led to many unfair practices that hit Canadians in the wallet.
“We don’t have enough choice in our wireless market,” says the organization’s Lindsey Pinto from its Vancouver headquarters, noting the group is pushing for regulations that encourage more competition.
“If Canadians have somewhere to turn outside of the Big Three, then the Big Three will make changes that benefit consumers.”
One way to do that, she notes, is to ensure small companies get access to the wireless spectrum in the auction expected next year.
“What we really need is a bold move to allow small companies to get a foothold in the market,” said Pinto. “We have to put a check on big telecom’s power.”
OpenMedia is lobbying for great competition, along with regulations that put the interests of consumers ahead of profits for the oligarchy that controls almost 95 per cent of the market. Caps on wireless rates and measures, such as warning messages, that protect consumers from massively inflated roaming charges, for instance, would be a good first start.
Pinto points to Ontario’s plans, announced last month, to protect cell phone customers as a good starting point for a national policy.
The Ontario bill, which includes measures originally introduced by MPP David Orazietti, would make contract terms clearer and cap cancellation fees, among other things.
“Millions of Ontarians subscribe to wireless phone services and, given the unwillingness of the federal government to protect consumers from costly one-side contracts, we are moving forward with important legislation that reaches the same objectives as those proposed in two bills I previously introduced,” says Orazietti, MPP for Sault Ste. Marie. “This is a pocketbook issue that consumers want addressed, and our government bill contains measures that will reduce costs, cap cancellation fees, prevent automatic renewal and make cell phone contracts considerably more fair and transparent.”
The Wireless Services Agreement Act, 2012 contains measures to bring greater fairness to agreements for wireless services. Specifically, the bill will allow consumers to cancel agreements at any time, with limits on cancellation charges; require the express consent of the consumer to renew, extend or amend a contract; and require greater disclosure and clarity in contracts for wireless services. Also included are provisions to force companies to use all-included prices in their advertisements and a prohibition against charging customers for services while their phones are in for warranty repairs, for instance, and they clearly aren’t using the service.
The legislation will affect new contracts for wireless phone and data services and would take effect six months after being passed. The legislation will also cover existing agreements that are amended, renewed or extended after that date.
“For too long large telecom companies have been gouging consumers on their cell phone bills,” Orazietti says.
These kind of controls, coupled with real competition, would make cell phone usage cheaper and more consumer-friendly, Pinto argues. Full disclosure and transparency are a good first step, as all too often the companies rely on consumer ignorance to run up their bills and keep them tied to unfair contract provisions – “keeping us out of the loop is their way of doing that.”
While some new entrants have emerged – the last spectrum auction in 2008 saw the debut of Wind Mobile, Public Mobile, Mobilicity and Quebec-based Videotron – the reality is those companies account for less than six per cent of the market. The emergence of a bona fide fourth national player would be helpful.
In Ontario, the Big Three account for 97 per cent of the market, with six others sharing the remaining three per cent. We’ve got a long way to go before real competition has an impact on the pricing and business practices of those who dominate the cell phone market.
For now, we cheer on the likes of Celia Shankar and her lawsuit that takes aim at just one of the many unfair ways the Big Three do business.
New hire does not appear to line up with job requirements
Woolwich officials are standing by their decision to hire an executive assistant despite the fact her experience does not appear to meet the requirements set out in the job description. Saskia Koning, a young woman from South Africa who was in the country on a temporary work visa, beat out more than a hundred applicants to get an administrative assistant’s job that pays almost $50,000 a year. While the township has refused to discuss her qualifications, publically-available information shows a résumé that doesn’t line up with what Woolwich was looking for in an executive assistant to the mayor/council and corporate communications assistant.
A photo gleaned from Facebook of Saskia Koning while working at the Charcoal Steakhouse in Kitchener.
The posting for the three-year contract position reads, in part, “Reporting to the CAO and mayor, you will provide confidential and professional senior administrative support to the Mayor and Council including coordination of a variety of administrative, recordkeeping and public relations functions. You will act in a liaison capacity for the mayor/council with all township departments, government officials, outside agencies and the general public.
“Complementing your post-secondary education in office administration, business administration or related disciplines you have a minimum of three years experience in office administration, business administration or executive assistance, at a senior level preferably in local government. A post-secondary education or experience in corporate communications would be considered a definite asset.
“Your noted strengths in organization, communication, public relations and customer service are complemented by your knowledge of local government, municipal procedures, protocol and relevant legislation.”
Koning is listed has having graduated from the University of Cape Town in December 2010 with a degree in film and media production. In an online forum for ex-patriots, she listed her profession as video production assistant. In Canada on a temporary visa that was to expire next month, she had been working as a waitress at a Kitchener restaurant prior to joining township staff on Apr. 26.
Woolwich’s senior bureaucrat, chief administrative officer David Brenneman, would not directly address apparent discrepancies between the job posting and Koning’s qualifications, citing privacy concerns. He maintained she was the best-qualified candidate for the position.
“The Township of Woolwich conducted an open and competitive recruitment process. The candidate selected at the conclusion of the competition was chosen because of her diverse work experience in office administration, project/event management and media/communications co-ordination,” he said this week in a written statement. “The successful candidate’s post secondary education in media, broadcasting, as well as office administration complements her background and experience.”
The township, however, has not made Koning available for an interview, nor released any documents to back its assertions.
Woolwich is currently going through the hiring process for a similar administrative assistant’s position, this a one-year (maternity leave) contract. That job, too, pays $43,000 to $53,000, plus a generous benefits package.
Chemtura pledges to meet 2028 cleanup deadline
An Elmira chemical company says it’s committed to cleaning up the town’s contaminated groundwater by the provincially-set 2028 deadline, arguing its current approaches will be sufficient to reach that goal.
The township’s environmental watchdog, however, wants the Ministry of the Environment to force Chemtura Co. to do more, including the digging up and removal of source material, to ensure the work gets done.
In voting on the issue this week, Woolwich councillors sided with the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee, despite a call from the company to stay the course. They did, however, welcome Chemtura’s commitment to the cleanup project.
The company has been using a pump-and-treat process to remove a pair of toxins – NDMA (nitrosodimethylamine) and chlorobenzene – from the former drinking water aquifers underneath Elmira. Discovery in 1989 of the carcinogenic NDMA precipitated the water crisis in Elmira, leading to the construction of a pipeline from Waterloo, which supplies the town with water to this day.
An MOE control order sets out the company’s responsibility for dealing with the contaminants in the municipal aquifers, with a deadline of 2028. More than two decades past the start of the crisis, CPAC is worried the timeline won’t be met, calling for provincial intervention. It wants the company to remove contaminated source material rather than simply treating the groundwater. The resolution endorsed May 8 by council also ask for the province to review the funding formula outlined in a 1991 agreement between the MOE and Chemtura, to make money available to CPAC to pay for studies, consultants, legal advice and other experts, and to establish a trust fund that would continue to pay for groundwater cleanup if Chemtura fails to meet the 2028 deadline.
“CPAC represents the residents of Elmira, the injured party in all this, and needs to have a budget that is adequate to the job,” new committee chair Dan Holt told councillors. “In addition, we need to impose a penalty so that if our aquifer is not cleaned up there is a price to pay.
“[...] now is the time to change directions and make sure that we have clean, drinkable water again by removing the sources of contamination. Currently we are only treating the symptoms; we need to remove the cancer.”
The company, however, says its current pump-and-treat process is working, and will clean the groundwater by 2028.
“We will meet that deadline,” said plant manager Josef Olejarz. “We have no reason to believe we won’t meet this date.”
Pointing to data that show contamination levels continue to drop, he said the pump-and-treat method would get the job done.
“There is nothing better on the market right now,” he said of the technology.
Peak concentrations of contaminants offsite from the plant have been reduced by 10-fold or more, said Olejarz. There’s been a 20 per cent reduction in the size of the NDMA plume in the municipal upper aquifer since 1998, covering 174 acres; a 41 per cent reduction in the chlorobenzene plume in the municipal upper aquifer in that timeframe, a decrease of 34 acres; and a 25 per cent drop in the chlorobenzene plume in the municipal lower aquifer since 1998, some eight acres.
“We consider this as a good success story.”
His rosy outlook was tempered, though, by CPAC volunteer David Marks, a hydrogeologist, who called the company’s forecast for pump-and-treat “overly optimistic.”
That technology, he explained, works in limited circumstances, but is not likely to fully remediate groundwater in the complex geology found underneath Elmira.
“Personally, I hope that happens. Professionally, I have my doubts,” said Marks, adding the pump-and-treat system is containing the contaminants and would have to be part of any stepped-up plan to treat the pollutants.
Supporting the resolution calling for greater MOE involvement, Coun. Mark Bauman said a more diverse approach would help get the cleanup efforts back on target.
“Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket,” he said of simply sticking with the pump-and-treat process.
He also called for more cooperation and less of an adversarial relationship between all the parties, stressing the need for a backup plan if the 2028 deadline is in jeopardy, though hoping not to need it.
“It’s always nice when you don’t have to go to Plan B.”
Woolwich goes outside township, country to fill new position
A new Woolwich staff position pushed for by Todd Cowan has been filled by a young woman with no local government experience, but known to the mayor. On Apr. 26, Saskia Koning, a South African citizen who was in Canada on a work visa, began her job as an executive assistant. She was selected from more than a hundred applicants to fill the three-year contract position that pays almost $50,000 a year, plus a generous complement of benefits that add another 30 per cent to the cost.
The job involves providing administrative support to the mayor and council, along with some communications functions, such as writing press releases. Its creation was approved by council earlier this year.
Of the large number of applicants, the mayor and CAO told the newspaper she was the most qualified.
Saskia Koning has been hired as the new executive assistant to Woolwich Mayor Todd Cowan and council.
Questioned about the hire, chief administrative officer David Brenneman said privacy laws prevented him from discussing specific details of her employment and the necessary federal government paperwork.
“What I can reiterate though is that the Township of Woolwich as a corporation follows and did follow a standard and legal recruitment process, the contract employee Saskia Koning is legally permitted to work in Canada, and further that the township is in compliance with applicable Canadian law and will continue to meet said obligations.”
In order to take the job and remain in the country prior to the imminent expiry of her previous work permit, she would need clearance from Immigration Canada based on a labour market opinion (LMO) from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, according to HRSDC.
“Businesses must recruit Canadians before hiring temporary foreign workers. When all reasonable efforts to hire domestically are unable to meet acute short-term labour market needs, eligible employers can seek an LMO to hire temporary foreign workers,” explained HRSDC spokesperson Lisa King.
“A number of factors are taken into consideration by HRSDC/Service Canada as part of the LMO application process, including whether the temporary foreign worker is likely to fill a labour shortage as well as the efforts the employer made to recruit and train Canadians or permanent residents.”
King added the department was unable to discuss a specific employer or employee, directing questions about citizenship issues to Immigration Canada, which hadn’t replied to specific inquiries prior to press time.
The new position was approved in February as part of the 2012 budget. A subsequent job posting solicited applications until Mar. 23. The LMO process outlined by HRSDC typically takes two to three months, after which a work permit could be issued by Immigration Canada. Koning was on the job Apr. 26.
Brenneman said he couldn’t discuss if the township went through the LMO process, citing privacy issues.
“I’m not aware of any concerns that would prevent her from working.”
He stressed, however, that the hiring followed standard procedure.
The mayor was involved in the hiring process, but the township has no policy about hiring friends of current staff or council members. In keeping with provincial rules, Woolwich does have a nepotism policy governing the employment of family members, said Brenneman.
Cowan, acknowledging a friendship with the young woman, said her hiring was “happenstance,” noting he had been approached by others also interested in the job.
“I think there were 116 or 120 résumés, so before they even got to the interview stage they were vetted by the HR person and, I think, David (Brenneman). There was a screening process. When it got to me, there was only two people that I had actually talked to before,” he said.
“We follow an open and transparent process, and that’s what was done here.”
He dismissed concerns the job went to a young, non-Canadian, saying the $43,000 to $53,000 pay range essentially made it an entry-level position that qualified candidates would not have applied for.
“That’s not an issue. I feel the process was open,” he said of Koning’s citizenship. “We were just looking for the right person at the right pay, because we know that we weren’t paying the big dollars.”
At almost $50,000 plus full benefits, however, the position pays about 50 per cent above private-sector averages for administrative assistance jobs – about $35,000 – and much more than entry-level offerings, which run closer to $25,000. Executive assistants, with more experience and responsibility, can earn closer to the range offered by the township, according to figures available from federal employment websites.
Citing his own experience, including time at Queen’s Park, Cowan noted executive assistants can earn more than $100,000.
“I used to be an EA in the private sector and I made considerably more than this, so it’s an entry level,” he said of the newly-created position. “Anybody hiring to do what (Koning) was hired to do would be making $75,000.”
Brenneman declined to discuss whether the township even considered lowering the pay scale for someone with little experience, sticking instead to the $43,000-$53,000 range.
Breslau homeowner hopes to turn one lot into three
A Breslau homeowner hopes to turn her one-acre Breslau property into three lots. As a first step, she’s seeking the zoning change needed to move in that direction. That bid was discussed Tuesday night at a public planning meeting in Woolwich council chambers.
Linda Pletsch’s application seeks to rezone the property at 116 Woolwich St. S. to R-4A from R-1 to permit greater density. After that, the property would be converted into three lots, with the existing home remaining on the largest portion, fronting on Woolwich Street. Two new, smaller lots would front on Joseph Street, explained Natalie Hardacre, a planner with the IBI Group representing the owner.
The smaller lots, with 50-foot frontage, would tap into water and sewer lines from the neighbouring Riverland subdivision, putting them on full municipal services.
She said the infill development would be in keeping with township, regional and provincial policies.
Director of engineering and planning Dan Kennaley said the township’s engineering department has identified some concerns with the plan, including grading issues that would have to be addressed before a severance could proceed.
Grading issues are what prompted neighbour Eleanor Snyder-McKee to object to the rezoning application.
She argued raising the grade on Pletsch’s property, required to bring it up to the elevation of Joseph Street, would see homes on the two new lots tower over her Berlin Street property.
“The development would put the back part of my property in a hole,” she said.
The loss of privacy and resulting drainage issues would lead to a drop in her property’s value, she argued, adding the new homes in the Riverland subdivision have already had a negative impact on her home.
As the May 1 meeting was for information only, council made no decision on the zoning. A planning department report will come back to council at a later date, after staff has reviewed the application and any comments from the public, Kennaley said, telling Snyder-McKee that her concerns would be taken into consideration at that stage.
Township backs CPAC call for more action on cleanup
Worried groundwater decontamination efforts are moving too slowly, the township wants an Elmira chemical company to do more. It’s also calling on the provincial government to step up to help protect the Woolwich’s interests.
To that end, council this week passed a resolution requesting the Ministry of the Environment press Chemtura to remove contaminated source material in order to meet the 2028 timeline for remediation of the aquifers under Elmira. The township also wants the province to review the funding formula outlined in a 1991 agreement between the MOE and Chemtura.
In that agreement, the province outlines some financial contributions to the cleanup effort, including paying one-third of the cost of the collection and treatment system, to a maximum of $3.9 million and covering half the annual operating costs of the treatment system, to a maximum of $1.2 million. The township wants the township to review the funding formula and to make money available to the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) to pay for studies, consultants, legal advice and other experts.
It also wants the province to establish a trust fund that would continue to pay for groundwater cleanup if Chemtura fails to meet the 2028 deadline.
“Currently there is no penalty for missing the deadline. We want to assure those still working toward this cleanup in 16 years from now that they will have resources for the process, and to give a little more incentive to Chemtura to actually clean up the contaminants by removing them,” Dr. Dan Holt, the new chair of CPAC, told councillors Tuesday night.
Based on the work of Dr. Gail Krantzberg, a professor of civil engineering at McMaster University in Hamilton and groundwater expert, CPAC wants Chemtura to remove contaminants from the soil rather than simply continuing to pump and treat the groundwater.
A lack of oversight of the project and no penalties for missing the cleanup date are good reasons for a review, said Holt.
“We feel strongly that this had produced a situation where there is no real oversight regarding the cleanup of contamination of Elmira’s drinking water. Neither one of the two parties involved in this agreement holds the other responsible and therefore there is no real authority to enforce the control orders governing this cleanup process.”
Coun. Mark Bauman, council’s new representative on CPAC, said the issue extends well beyond Elmira’s aquifers, which are no longer in use, with drinking water piped in from Waterloo. Digging up the contaminants removes the threat of toxins making their way into the nearby Canagagigue Creek, then the Grand River and, ultimately, Lake Erie and the Great Lakes basin.
Twp. seeks “presenter” status at biogas hearings
Having opted out of joining the formal appeal against a biogas plant proposed for Elmira, the township will seek “presenter” status in the upcoming Environmental Review Tribunal hearings. That will allow Woolwich to air its concerns about the project, over which it had no say following the province’s introduction of the Green Energy Act.
Dan Kennaley, Woolwich’s director of engineering and planning, staked out that position at Tuesday night’s council meeting, winning the endorsement of council.
By shying away from full participant status, the township avoids any legal costs, but gets to outline its concerns about the facility to be built by Woolwich Bio-En Inc., he said.
The project will use an anaerobic digester to convert organic material into methane that, in turn, fuels a generator to create electricity. On top of traffic concerns, the township has determined the plant is not compatible with the zoning of the Martin’s Lane property just north of downtown Elmira.
As well, the township wants guarantees there will be proper enforcement of rules should there be any problems, such as odour complaints, stemming from the operation of the facility, Kennaley said.
The concerns identified by the township will be rolled out by the Elmira Bio Fuel Citizens’ Committee, which appealed the province’s March approval of the project to the Environmental Review Tribunal. The group is looking for public support at an ERT hearing starting at 10 a.m. May 8 in the banquet hall at RIM Park, just across the Woolwich-Waterloo border on University Avenue East.
The altnerative-energy project won provincial approval in late-March, despite reservations on the part of the township and some residents, who aired concerns about the potential for odours and the impact of increased truck traffic. The operation will be fed by waste material, including livestock manure, food waste, used cooking oils and other fats and the like. A diesel generator converted to work with methane will generate electricity to be sold back into the grid, while steam heat produced could be sold to neighbouring industries.
The $12-million facility would generate 2.8 megawatts of renewable electricity – enough to power 2,200 homes – and 3.4 mW of heat.
Woolwich plans “no stopping” zone
Cars will no longer be allowed to stop on a portion of Snyder Avenue in Elmira, Woolwich’s latest manoeuvre in the ongoing traffic woes around John Mahood Public School. The township has been trying to discourage traffic congestion caused as parents drop off their kids each morning. Parking prohibitions, stepped up bylaw enforcement and even greater police presence have failed to eradicate the problem.
With the addition of “no stopping” signs along the west side of Snyder Avenue, from First Street to Second Street, the goal is to eliminate unsafe conditions near the intersection of Snyder and First, township clerk Christine Broughton told councillors meeting May 1.
Stopped cars that force other drivers to swerve around them while kids are getting in and out of vehicles make for unsafe conditions, she explained.
While sympathetic with the goal, Mayor Todd Cowan argued the problem belongs to the school and the Waterloo Region District School Board, not the township. With each new measure, Woolwich is essentially letting the board off the hook, he said.
“This is really not our issue,” said Cowan, noting he and Ward 1 councillors Julie-Anne Herteis and Allan Poffenroth would be hearing from parents unhappy with the new restrictions.
“Parents, they will be ticked. We’re going to get the fury and the wrath.”
But Coun. Mark Bauman, agreeing the problem lies with the board, said the township has to put the children’s safety ahead of any other consideration.
“That safety concern trumps the inconvenience it will cause councillors,” he noted.
Herteis, who voted for the changes, predicted the “no stopping” provisions would likely just move the congestion elsewhere, as parents scramble to find a place to drop off their children near the schools.
“We’re going to get complaints on Second Street.”
Bauman pointed to a similar issue last year in St. Jacobs, where the parents were asked to drop their kids a block away from the school.
“It won’t hurt the kids to walk two extra blocks,” he said, noting parents would have to leave a couple of minutes earlier to give the kids time to walk the last bit.
A longer term solution, however, will involve action on the school board’s part. Cowan cited similar issues that used to occur at St. Teresa of Avila school, also located on First Street. When prohibition and control measures failed, the board built a kiss-and-drop location for parents and their children.
In the absence of action from the board, the township has installed “no parking” zones around the school. Last June, Woolwich council voted to close off access to a municipal parking lot adjacent to the nearby tennis courts in order to direct drivers further west on First Street to a lot at Gibson Park, where a second entrance was built to help with traffic flow. Finding that arrangement inconvenient, however, many parents continued to use prohibited areas closer to the school. Traffic and parked cars also spilled over onto nearby residential streets, raising the ire of residents, who’ve not been shy about complaining to the township.
It remains to be seen what effect the latest move will have.
We lack the drive to get out of our cars
One of the most amusing sights to behold is drivers circling around a parking lot looking for a spot close to the door. Well, that’s not amusing, unless it’s at a gym, which is something I’ve seen on many occasions. There’s a clear irony in watching people jockey for the closest spot, apparently looking to minimize the amount of walking they’ll have to do … on the way to exercise.
If those people won’t give up even the tiniest conveniences of their cars, what hope do we have for a less car-centric society? Not much, at least not anytime soon. And what hope is there for Waterloo Region’s grandiose plans for a train-centered transit scheme? Pretty much zero.
That has not, of course, dampened the enthusiasm of a handful of proponents leading the mad dash to spend hundreds of millions of dollars – well in excess of a billion, certainly. They were at it this week, committing to spend $17 million simply on one group of consultants, forging ahead despite the fact beleaguered taxpayers have been offered no reassurances that the non-inclusive $818 million budget will not balloon – almost a dead certainty – nor any guarantees those responsible will be held legally and financially accountable if (well, when) the budget is exceeded and ridership numbers fail to materialize.
What we’ve got is lots of nice theories, but no evidence and no plan B for dealing with failure.
And failure is very, very likely. It’s common with government projects, and especially with politically-motivated ones. That’s even more the case when the project in question goes against the tide and counter to how the public actually behaves – wishful thinking never trumps reality.
Take, for instance, the ongoing traffic issues outside of John Mahood Public School in Elmira, discussed again this week at Woolwich council. The township has introduced bylaws, offered up parking areas and called in the police to battle the unsafe confusion that erupts daily as parents drive their children to the school, jockeying to get as close as possible to the entrance before dropping off or picking up their little darlings, a scene reminiscent of the health club drivers.
The school board and region’s public health department have long encouraged walking and cycling to school as an alternative, but still the parents come behind the wheel. Every reaction and solution offered up by the township countered by the urge for speed and convenience, no matter how often parents are reminded of the safety risk. Or the health benefits of letting their kids get to school under their own steam.
The township passed another bylaw this week – “no stopping” provisions on a stretch of Snyder Avenue – but, as Coun. Julie-Anne Herteis noted, that will just move the congestion elsewhere. Human nature at work, despite the best wishes of administrators and politicians.
That’s not to say advocates of walking to school should give up, unlike the train’s proponents. Groups such as the Active and Safe Routes to School Workgroup, which held events in the region earlier this week, should continue to press for their cause, as should advocates of a more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly city, despite the uphill battle. Even supporters of the train should join their cause, as success there will do far more to get people out of their cars and, perhaps one day, help support greater use of public transit.
Unlike Waterloo Region’s ill-fated light rail transit proposal, a push for proper bike lanes and, in the bigger picture, for more people-friendly communities has the possibility of benefits far beyond safer cycling. Just visit most European cities to see what that payoff is.
Along with cars tucked into anything resembling a parking spot, bicycles and scooters can be found in uncountable numbers. On a single stroll, you’ll likely see more bicycles, parked or in transit, than you’ll see all year around here.
There are many reasons for this, of course. Denser cities make getting around by foot and by bike much easier, as does the more temperate climate. The price of cars and fuel make alternatives more desirable. Crowding means smaller is better when it comes to a vehicle for getting around. Theirs is a culture accustomed to walking, biking and public transit. And the older cities were not built around automobiles, as opposed to what we find in North America. Policies actively discourage automobile use, particularly in city centers.
In Germany and Holland, for instance, you’ll find bicycle lanes, complete with traffic signals, line many of the streets adjacent to sidewalks.
Because of sprawl and car-centric design, our communities are largely unfriendly to pedestrian and bicycle traffic. While I’m as car dependent as the next person, there is something attractive about the lay of the land of most European cities (of course, they’re also generally far more aesthetically appealing than anything you’ll find here, but that’s another issue).
We walk and bike less often here, largely because it’s neither safe nor convenient to do so. And that’s not just perception: our car-centric planning in North America makes it much safer to travel by car than by foot or bicycle.
In the U.S., statistics show fatalities are 36 times higher for pedestrians and 11 times higher for cyclists than car occupants per kilometre travelled. Car-meets-pedestrian accidents have that kind of outcome.
While Canadians are more active than Americans – we cycle about three times more often than they do south of the border, for instance – the numbers are nothing like what you’d see in Europe. Where walking and cycling account for about six per cent of trips in the U.S. and about twice that number in Canada, the figures compare poorly to the likes of Germany and Austria (35 per cent) and to front-running Netherlands, at almost 50 per cent.
We’ll walk more and cycle more when there are places to walk and cycle to. This means undoing decades of poor planning, mixing residential with commercial, installing separate bike lanes akin to sidewalks to make people safer and downplaying the need to get in the car to go anywhere farther than your backyard.
Provide the incentive, make it safe and convenient, and people just might change some of their habits. That includes parents who insist on driving their kids to school to the detriment of public safety. Achieve a major swing in that direction, then think about expanding transit.
