The Sydenham is one of the…

The Sydenham is one of the most biodiverse rivers in Canada. The place where they are looking into putting the dump, there is a creek that has a lot of streams leading directly to the river. If there is a dump in this place,polluting the water that is flowing directly into the Sydenham, the toxins from this dump will enter the river killing the organisms and living things inside this insanely biodiverse river. Contaminating this river will lead to harm of the many unique species living inside the sydenham. Inside the Sydenham, there are many endangered species. The Sydenham is home to 41 out of the 55 mussels native to Canada, that is 75% of the mussels that are native to Canada and is the most mussel diverse river in Canada. 15 of these mussel species are considered endangered in this river already, and creating a dump would only further endanger these species and possibly put other mussel species in risk of endangerment. There are 129 fish species native to Ontario, and the Sydenham is home to at least 80 of them. 10 of these species have been listed as at risk of extirpation, and there are several other species that are very rare. The Sydenham River is home to 3 endangered snakes. All 10 of the turtle species native to Ontario are classified as endangered, a huge factor causing this endangerment is habitat loss, and having the dump in Dresden will create even more habitat loss. Out of these 10 endangered species, the Sydenham river is home to 5 of them, and polluting their habitat will cause even further endangerment of these already endangered species of turtle. Messing with the lives of these endangered and rare creatures in the Sydenham will affect the way the ecosystem interacts together and will destroy the harmony of this ecosystem. York 1 was using out of date information to try and justify the placement of this dump, but going off of this invalid information does not display the true effects that this dump would have on the ecosystem of the Sydenham river and the ecosystem and people around it. There are other places that would have much less of a harmful effect on the environment, but since York is a much bigger place than Dresden, they are better able to bend the laws and adjust them to fit their needs. I do not believe this should be justified, and I think the entire ecosystem of the Sydenham River should be important and considered, even if it doesn't affect the big city.

- LKCS student