I was born and raised in…

I was born and raised in Dresden, and after moving away for school, looking for a career and starting a family, I CHOSE to move back to my hometown to raise my family. This town has given me a wonderful childhood, filled with sports, activities, family, and an immeasurable sense of community. We are a community filled with a rich history, and farmland that helps sustain consumer demand both at home and internationally.

Our agriculture is one of the main reasons a full scale environmental assessment is needed. Putting our resources at risk of potentially irreversible damage is a dangerous risk to take. Environmental pollution of water and soil could negatively impact our food production. Chatham-Kent as a whole is the #1 producer in Canada of Brussels sprouts, black tobacco, cucumbers, pumpkins, seed corn and tomatoes. We are the #2 producer in Canada of sugar beets. We are the #1 producer in Ontario of green peas, quail and field peppers. We are the #2 producer in Ontario of asparagus. Our Municipality grows over 70 different crops. Soybeans, corn and wheat are the three major crops in Chatham-Kent in terms of acreage. Each farmer in Chatham-Kent produces enough to feed 120 people. There are over 2,400 farms, which account for 5% of Ontario's total farms.

Being in Toronto, you might not understand the full scale impact this dump would have on our small town, but the reverberations of this will be felt past our local municipal limits. Our food chain is important. Biodiversity is important. Making choices to sustain and limit impacts on our environment is important. A full scale environmental assessment is the ONLY LOGICAL CHOICE when looking at a WASTE DISPOSAL SITE. How can this even be a question?