Bonnie James
Local Journalism Initiative
LITCHFIELD – Litchfield council has passed a resolution that could shutdown the proposed Energy-from-Waste (EFW) incinerator project completely. The motion was made at the monthly municipal council meeting, May 6 at the municipal office.
The resolution calls for the tabling of a motion at the May 15 MRC Council of Mayors meeting to immediately halt all activity by the warden and MRC staff on the EFW project. It also demands that no further funding from any public source goes towards the project and that it be abandoned completely.
In addition, the resolution calls for the MRC’s Waste Management Committee and staff responsible for waste management to “invest all their efforts” into preparing a Zero Waste policy instead.
Litchfield’s motion follows the May 1 withdrawal of Fort-Coulonge’s support for the project by way of vote at the monthly council meeting. Fort-Coulonge was the tenth council to officially rescind support or oppose the project. At the MRC’s town hall presentation in Campbell’s Bay in April, Warden Jane Toller had said that 10 votes against the project at the Council of Mayors would end it.
13 of 18 municipal councils have now registered their opposition, with Campbell’s Bay, L’Isle-aux-Allumettes, and Mansfield-et-Pontefract voting to rescind support in the past week.
As of May 11, Alleyn-et-Cawood, Bryson, L’Île-du-Grand-Calumet, Portage-du-Fort, and Rapides-des-Joachims have yet to officially register their opposition.
