Re: Even Green Projects are in trouble, March 18th.

Lakeview is getting another power plant, just not on the waterfront. In May of 2005 Eastern power was awarded a contract to build a 280 MW gas plant on Lakeview’s northern boundary in our Sherway neighbourhood. This facility will be 105 metres from homes, 300 metres from a hospital and 70 metres to a sensitive watershed. When first awarded the contract they would have been allowed to burn fuel oil and received permission to store 50,000 gallons of it on the banks of the Etobicoke Creek. Fortunately, fuel oil was removed from the contract.

Three generations of children in Lakeview bore the burden of the single greatest point source of pollution in the GTA. I have the complete list of historic stack emissions and would be delighted to share them with you. Aluminum, Arsenic, Cadmium, Carbon Monoxide, Chromium, Copper, Hydrochloric Acid, Hydrogen Fluoride, Mercury, Nitrous Oxide, Sulphur Dioxide, Sulphuric Acid, Zinc is a partial listing of what rained on our children, untreated by any emission mitigation until 1979 when the plant was reduced from 100% capacity to 15%. From 1979 to 2005, while operating at 15% capacity with scrubbers, Lakeview was still the largest emitter of toxins in the GTA.

The only good news for our community is that the Lakeview Coal Generating Station, the last heavy industry on Mississauga’s eastern waterfront is now gone and we have the opportunity for the first time in 120 years to reclaim 7 kilometres of waterfront and give our community back its heart.

The reason Lakeview was taken off the table was because we created a master plan for a carbon neutral waterfront community to replace the coal plant that sat in the centre of our community. Mississauga city council unanimously endorsed our plan and the Province of Ontario stated they would make Lakeview “The model for Smart Growth in the Province”.

The Lakeview Legacy Project, in 2009, was honoured with 2 national awards for urban planning and is nominated this year for a North American environmental award in Washington DC.

Lakeview, unlike most other communities that have objected to a power plant, gained the knowledge needed to create a solution and implemented positive change. We have incorporated the Lakeview Legacy Foundation to continue this work. We now have partnerships with three universities to conduct brownfield and environmental science studies in Mississauga south. We are committed to cleaning up our entire 22.5 kilometres of waterfront and restoring it for all citizens to enjoy and cherish.

The knowledge gained from this effort will educate a new generation of skilled environmental workers with the tools necessary to help restore all of our communities. This will be Lakeview’s positive contribution to future generations, and to remind you once again, we are taking a power plant too.

Jim Tovey President Lakeview Ratepayers

Association