SIX NATIONS – Six Nations Elected Council is holding a community meeting to discuss the stack air quality test results performed several months ago on the Kearns machine by the Guelph based engineering firm RWDI. A partial result was released earlier but the full test results have now been analyzed and those results will be made known and discussed with the community on March 19th, 2015 at the Social Services Gymnasium located at 15 Sunrise Court at 6 pm.
John Kearns says his technology has the potential of not only dealing with the daily waste from the community, but also capable of exhuming old garbage from the over full land-fill to eliminate seepage of toxins into the water table and methane releases into the air.
However, mounting concern by some Six Nations residents that while testing and setting up the demo machine that toxic fumes were being released into the air, caused Band Council to take a second look.
Community members forced Kearns to shut down the machine and to leave the community, which he did, until a certified emisions test could be conducted on the demo machine. These tests were completed in early November of 2014.
The test results showed alarming level of toxins being emitted and the machine was shut down again following the RWDI tests.
One thing that is for sure, as stated by Chief Ava Hill is that the Six Nations landfill is grossly overburdened and digging another series of pits is not the answer. Recycling efforts would certainly help alleviate the problem. However, not all waste is recyclable and not all residents would comply, which means that some form of waste management plan will always be necessary. It’s a problem that will not go away, but is the Kearns System the answer?
These are questions that the community will have to decide. Band Council wants to ensure that the public is well informed before making that decision, either way, which is why the community meeting was arranged.
