Sydney cleanup group's chairman says it will still have a role to play
By Chris Shannon
Sydney - The group established six years ago to give residents a say into the
tar ponds cleanup faces an uncertain future now that cleanup options have been
passed on to government. The Joint Action Group's contract expires in September, and there have been
rumours the province and federal government will not renew it for another five
years. JAG chairman Dan Fraser insisted Wednesday that JAG still has a role to play. "If you look at our mission statement, it clearly indicates that we should be
involved in the implementation phase of the cleanup." JAG will meet with its government partners on June 9 to discuss its future and
how community involvement will be part of the continuing cleanup process. JAG members questioned whether the province was the sole decision-maker in this
process. David Darrow, chief executive for the provincial Sydney Tar Ponds Agency, said
he hopes the federal government gives its input into the future of JAG as well,
but wouldn't speculate on JAG's future. "What I can tell you is that we are interested in hearing from the volunteers
who have spent so much time on this project over the past six or more years." (JAG has members from all three levels of government as well as community
volunteers.) Earlier this month a government-funded report on the community's preference for
incineration also showed the public has grown tired of JAG. Of the 881 people who filled out the survey, only 79 said they'd like to see JAG
continue to exist beyond 2004. The organization was formed out of public protest because of a 1995 plan by the
federal government to bury the toxic sludge. That idea was rejected a year later, and JAG was created to let the public
decide what to do with Sydney's toxic waste, the result of decades of
steelmaking. crshannon@syd.eastlink.ca
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