Clean Air Bath, Bath Ontario

What We have Accomplished

15 June 2006	Clean Air Bath forms. The group's founding members are three Bath couples concerned about the health of their children, the environment, and the economic stability of the area.
26 June 2006	First informational meeting organized by Clean Air Bath is held in Bath. 175 people attend. Guest speaker: Martin Hauschild, Loyalist Environmental Coalition.
05 July 2006	Clean Air Bath organizes a rally in front of Lafarge Canada, Inc.'s cement plan in Bath. Close to 200 people participate.
10 July 2006	Clean Air Bath makes its first presentation to Loyalist Township Council voicing its concerns to Council. The group presents council members with 300 signed letters requesting that the Ministry of the Environment subject Lafarge's proposals to an environmental assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act.
24 July 2006	Clean Air Bath together with Loyalist Environmental Coalition meets with The Hon. Leona Dombrowsky, Ontario Minister of Agricultural and Rural Affairs, to discuss the groups' concerns in regards to the Lafarge applications.
24 July 2006	Clean Air Bath makes its second presentation to Loyalist Township Council voicing its concerns to Council - highlighting why an Environmental Assessment is required, instead of just a Part 5 Hearing under the Environmental Protection Act.
01 Aug. 2006	Clean Air Bath presents petitions and letters from concerned citizens to The Hon. Leona Dombrowsky, and conducts another meeting with her.
08 Aug. 2006	Clean Air Bath makes its third presentation to Loyalist Township Council, reiterating the group's concerns and request for Council to pass a resolution in support of an Environmental Assessment and Councillor Hudacin's motion to reconsider Council's Nov. 24th resolution. Loyalist Township passes a resolution motioned by Councillor Duncan Ashley, requesting that the Province of Ontario pass a regulation placing a moratorium on the burning of waste-derived fuel in all cement kilns until such time that a full environmental assessment as to suitability of using waste-derived fuel in cement kilns has been completed.
21 Aug. 2006	Clean Air Bath meets with John Gerretsen, M.P.P. for Kingston and the Islands, to discuss concerns about the Lafarge proposal and the direct impact of those concerns upon his constituents. Mr. Gerretsen is instrumental in arranging a meeting with the MOE for CAB.
22 Aug. 2006	Clean Air Bath meets with Scott Reid, M.P. for Lanark, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington, to discuss concerns about the Lafarge proposal and the need for federal intervention in this matter.
23 Aug. 2006	Clean Air Bath organizes its second informational meeting in Amherstview. 100 people attend. Guest speakers: Peter Tabuns, M.P.P., Environment Critic NDP; Mark Mattson, lawyer, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper; Martin Hauschild, Loyalist Environmental Coalition.
24 Aug. 2006	Clean Air Bath makes a submission and presentation to the Standing Committee on Social Policy in Response to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment's Proposed Clean Water Act, 2005. The group voices their concerns about the potential impact of Lafarge's proposed activities on the health of Lake Ontario and its role as main drinking water source for the Bath community.
11 Sept. 2006	Loyalist Township Council votes to overturn their Nov. 2004 resolution regarding Lafarge Canada Inc.'s application to burn tires and other waste materials at the company's plant in Bath, passing a new resolution requesting a full environmental assessment.
21 Sept. 2006	Lake Ontario Waterkeeper brings the Heart of the Lake Tour to Kingston, after previous performances in Whitby and Port Hope. Gord Downie joins other artists to blend activism with art in a unique celebration of Lake Ontario and the struggles of ordinary people to protect it. The Lafarge issue is highlighted locally.
16 Oct. 2006	Clean Air Bath meets with staff members of the Ministry of the Environment, including the Senior Policy Advisor for Minister Broten and the Director of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch. Copies of letters and petitions individually mailed to Minister Broten — representing the concerns of over 1,000 people — are also presented.
25 Oct. 2006	Clean Air Bath presents before the KFL&A Board of Health in Kingston. The group petitions the Board to protect the health of KFL&A residents by requesting that the Ministry of the Environment subject the Lafarge proposal to an Environmental Assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act.
06 Nov. 2006	Clean Air Bath holds a telephone conference with technical staff of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch, Ministry of the Environment.
10 Nov. 2006	Clean Air Bath speaks about the group's experience with the participatory process to graduate students in the School of Environmental Studies at Queen's University.
26 Nov. 2006	KFL&A Board of Health passes a resolution requesting that Lafarge's proposal be subjected to a hearing before the Environmental Review Tribunal, with special emphasis to be given to the possible negative impacts on health.
29 Nov. 2006	Clean Air Bath makes a submission to the Signing Directors of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch expressing the group's continued concerns about the Lafarge applications.
21 Dec. 2006	The decisions to approve Lafarge Canada Inc.'s application to discharge into the natural environment other than water (Air), and Lafarge Canada Inc.'s application for a waste disposal site are posted on the Environmental Registry (Environmental Registry Numbers IA04E0464 and IA03E1902). http://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envregistry/022754ei.htm On the same day as the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch issues Lafarge's Certificates of Approval, the Ministry of the Environment proposes a ban on tire burning in the rest of the province for at least 2 years, stating that the "[t]he Ministry of the Environment has no experience monitoring the environmental performance of facilities that incinerate tires." www.ene.gov.on.ca/envregistry/029090er.htm
01 Jan. 2007	Clean Air Bath organizes a silent demonstration at Minister Leona Dombrowsky's levee to protest the Dec. 21 approvals of Lafarge's applications.
04 Jan. 2007	Clean Air Bath holds its third informational meeting to update the community about the status of Lafarge's applications. The meeting is attended by 250 residents. Keynote speaker: Dr. Alban Goddard-Hill, former Medical Officer, Prince Edward and Hastings Counties.
05 Jan. 2007	Applications for Leave to Appeal the decisions by the Signing Directors of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch are filed with the Environmental Review Tribunal. The Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) issues Press Release.
06 Jan. 2007	Clean Air Bath holds a rally in front of Lafarge's Bath plant, protesting the Ministry's decisions. Close to 300 people attend.
15 Jan. 2007	Clean Air Bath stages an afternoon rally at the Kingston office of The Hon. John Gerretsen's Kingston, Ontario Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. 50 people braved the first snowstorm of the year to once again draw Minister Gerretsen's attention to the Lafarge issue.
25 Jan. 2007	Clean Air Bath presents at a meeting organized by the Council of Canadians, Kingston Chapter, outlining Ontario's participatory process specifically related to the Lafarge applications and the tire-burning ban proposed by the province.
26 Jan. 2007	Clean Air Bath submits its comments in response to the Ministry's proposed tire-burning ban.
2 Feb. 2007	Clean Air Bath takes the group's concerns about the Ministry's proposed tire-burning ban to Toronto. Braving snow and the cold, 40 people stage a rally in front of the Ministry of the Environment's office building on St. Clair Avenue. Long-time Clean Air Bath supporter MPP Peter Tabuns (NDP Environment Critic) awaits the group and issues words of encouragement. (See photo gallery on our homepage for images). Two members of Clean Air Bath meet with The Hon. Laurel Broten, Minister of the Environment, her Chief-of-Staff, Andrew Steele, and Peter Hargreave, the minister's Senior Policy Advisor. Clean Air Bath delivers petitions signed by 850 citizens and children's art protesting the exclusion of Bath from the proposed tire-burning ban for the province. The group requests, and is granted, an extension of the deadline for comments on this proposed ban. The deadline was moved from 4 February 2007 to 12 February 2007. After the meeting, Peter Hargreave and Andrew Steele answer questions by citizens rallying in front of the Ministry's office building. (See photo gallery on our homepage for images).
5 Feb. 2007	Clean Air Bath appears before Loyalist Township Council. CAB reports on the group's meeting with the Minister, and informs Loyalist Township Council about the extended deadline for comments on the proposed tire-burning ban. Loyalist Township Council passes a resolution reiterating its 8 August 2006 resolution requesting a ban on the use of waste-derived fuels until an environmental assessment of the safety of such practice has been conducted.
12 Feb. 2007	Clean Air Bath submits a letter to the Environmental Review Tribunal and the Ministry of the Environment protesting the participatory process. Clean Air Bath notifies the ERT and the Ministry that the group had been unaware of a 3-day deadline for submission of a rebuttal to the proponent's and the MOE's response to Leave to Appeal applications filed by interested parties, including CAB, in connection with the 21 Dec. 2006 Certificates of Approval issued to Lafarge. The group states that its lack of response does not indicate that Clean Air Bath is in agreement with what the MOE and the proponent have offered by way of reply to the Leave to Appeal applications.