OHSWEKEN – Around 50 community members gathered at the Six Nations Landfill Site last Wednesday to let John Kearns of Kearns International know that his disintegrator was no longer welcome on the territory.
Spokesperson Derek Sandy told the Two Row Times that a group of concerned community members have tried to approach the Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) at least three times to express their concerns about potentially toxic chemicals that are released into the air through the smokestack of this machine. A number of residents living near Kearns’ machine have complained about the unit emitting smells and black smoke. One resident who lives next to the landfill site was afraid to speak out in fear of losing his job, but told the Two Row Times that shortly after the machine started operation, one of his children moved off the territory to escape the smell. “I smell it all the time, I know exactly when that machine back there is running because I can smell it and see the smoke.”
Many of the protestors told Kearns that they feel like they are being used as guinea pigs and are afraid for their health and the health of their children. “Down the road, what happens if one of my children gets cancer from this machine? That’s why we are here today, to prevent that from happening,” one concerned man told a Six Nations Constable who were also on the scene to make sure a peaceful assembly was being maintained.
On Monday, AW Recycling which is a Native owned recycling company on Six Nations, along with their supporters attended a meeting at SNEC to give a presentation on recycling and why it is a better alternative to waste incineration. Owners Bill Warner and Mark Annett also stated that despite rumors circulating in the community, they never started the protest last week although a couple of their workers were there to show their support. Workers from the Six Nations Landfill Site were also at the protest to show their support for shutting the machine down as well.
John Kearns and AW Recycling have long locked horns on the importance of recycling on Six Nations. While AW Recycling say that 70% of municipal garbage waste is recyclable and should be recycled, Kearns states that with his machine, recycling is not necessary. Kearns also refuses to sort through his garbage to take out anything that can be recycled and therefore, almost everything is incinerated in his machine including aerosol cans, paint cans, all types of plastics and metals, etc.
Annett told Elected Council, “We assumed control of the recycling center in August 2013. At that time, only 2% of the community were recycling. In October, we started collecting roadside, at no cost. On December 25, we signed the 400th home to our pick up list. And as of January 3, we seen an 18% increase of people recycling on Six Nations.”
“As of January 31, we have calculated that with recycling since last August, we saved roughly 422,893 pounds of recyclable materials from going into the landfill site (or the waste incinerator). These materials include, cardboard, scrap steel, aluminum, PET, glass, HDPE and mixed plastics.” Not only that but AW Recycling has also saved thousands of cubic yards of landfill space, just by recycling alone.
“We are here to discuss how our company can work with the community and Elected Council to help reduce waste. We are looking for the support and cooperation of Council to help educate the community on the importance of recycling. We need recycling education at all levels, not just the schools. We need to educate people through informative community meetings and to encourage and promote recycling on a regular basis,” stated Annett.
Annett presented SNEC with three possible options to help make AW Recycling more productive and efficient for the community. Three different types of recycling systems were presented to Elected Council which include price ranges from $110,000 to $750,000 and would require at least 6 workers per shift to sort through the materials thus creating jobs in the community. The third and pricier option would include a magnet for the removal of ferrous metals, an eddy current for the removal of aluminum and a shredder. There would even be a process for filtering out organic waste. “We need the support for implementation of education in the community. We’re looking for clarification as to the future of landfill on Six Nations,” stated Annett.
One of the biggest concerns among Councillors was whether or not these type of recycling systems were in place anywhere else. Ironically, SNEC failed to ask that question when signing deals with John Kearns who only has 3 disintegrators: the one on Six Nations, one demo machine where he lives in Nova Scotia and one he has yet to sell. In the past 30 years that he has designed his machine, Kearns has been unable to sell his machine to anyone else in the world.
Despite AW Recycling providing a sustainable and viable alternative to burning garbage, some Councillors remained skeptical. “It sounds really good but right now we’re in a garbage crisis. My concern right now is that we’re only at 18% of the community who recycles. We need to be at 100%. How long is that going to take? I honestly don’t think that we can get 100% of the community to recycle. We need (Kearns’) machine running right now,” stated Helen Miller. Elected Chief Ava Hill was also skeptical and although she does support recycling, she stated, “I still don’t think it’s enough. I want (Kearns’) machine to be there.”
Hill told community members that there will be a community meeting this Saturday June 7 at 2pm at the Community Hall and encourages everyone to come and voice their concerns.
