BT Coalition declines Cardno Entrix invitation; refuses to legitimize Dart dump whitewash

In response to an invitation received from Cardno Entrix on April 10th for a “focused discussion” in advance of their planned public sessions, the Coalition to Keep BT Dump Free has declined.  “Cardno Entrix (CE) was chosen and paid by the Dart Group to produce a study of its dump proposal showing that the dump in Bodden Town (BT) would have no significant negative impact”, declares Coalition chairman Mr. Alain Beiner.  “CE knows full well that what the Coalition has to say is said openly and publicly.  The only reason to invite us to a private meeting is to legitimize an illegitimate ‘draft environmental statement’ and an unethical relationship”.

“The conflict of interest is glaring”, adds Coalition leader Mr. Gregg Anderson.  “How can the CE ‘study’ be considered objective and independent when the dump evaluator is chosen and paid by the dump proponent?  As well, they’re asking for the public’s input on their whitewash, but the people were never asked for their input on the need to relocate the George Town (GT) landfill, nor on the choice of BT as the new site to be contaminated.”

“The Environmental Advisory Board (EAB) was muzzled after suggesting that it search for the best waste management solution for Grand Cayman”, states Coalition leader Ms Marleine Gagnon.  “It was then ordered by government ministers to restrict its deliberations solely to the Dart dump proposal, and to Dart’s proposed site in BT.  But, we won’t be muzzled like the EAB; we won’t be restricted to commenting on the CE report.”

No government entity has ever decided that the GT dump had to be moved, and no one knows who decided that BT was the best location if indeed the dump had to be moved.  “The only government entity which has ever made a decision on how to solve the GT landfill problem and eliminate Mount Trashmore”, according to former Minister of Environment and Coalition leader Mr. Charles Clifford, “was our Central Tenders Committee (CTC).  After an open call for proposals in December 2010, the CTC concluded that the problem should be fixed where it is, and rejected Dart’s proposal.  This very same plan, which CE has supposedly evaluated, was rated by the CTC as the worst of all options considered.”

“Dart’s dump proposal, nothing more than another landfill, is an environmental and social injustice”, declares Ms Gagnon.  “Dart wants to needlessly dump the island’s waste problem on an environmentally sensitive area, where ordinary working people invested in homes with no prior knowledge of a waste management facility in their neighbourhood; rather than rectifying the waste problem where it is, in an industrial zone in GT close to the source of most of our trash”.  Adds Coalition leader and Midland Acres resident Ms Arlene Whittaker: “Instead of appealing to the Coalition for a private discussion, the people at CE should be ashamed of their complicity in this travesty of justice, of environmental good sense, of due process and of the rule of law.  We’ll have no part of it.”

The Coalition attaches the full text of its response (see below), along with a copy of the CE invitation (and follow-up).

Reply to Cardno Entrix from Coalition to Keep BT Dump Free

From:  Coalition to Keep BT Dump Free <[email protected]>

Sent:   April 11, 2013 4:23 PM

To:       Sharon Niemczyk at Cardno Entrix

Cc:       Wendy Swindell at Cardno Entrix; Coalition to Keep BT Dump Free

Subject:          Invitation to Meet Cardno ENTRIX Regarding Draft ES

Hi Sharon:

Thanks for your invitation, but as per our response to your previous invitations, we must decline.   We see no purpose in meeting with you privately except to lend legitimacy to the contract between Cardno Entrix and the Dart Group, and to the “study” which they’ve commissioned you to carry out.

We consider these illegitimate, and your relationship with Dart to be unethical.  Like many others in our country, we find it scandalous that Cardno Entix was selected and paid by the firm promoting the dump project, and impossible to consider your “draft environmental statement” as independent, fair and unbiased.  No one is surprised that your firm found that Dart’s project entails “no significant negative impact”.  What is perhaps surprising is that your firm would risk sullying its reputation by accepting this “dirty job” at the start.

As you well know, in spite of the massive opposition to Dart’s proposed landfill in Bodden Town (BT), there has been no open and independent study to determine the best waste management solution for Grand Cayman, in the interest of its people and its environment.  And, inasmuch as there was a call for tenders in 2010 to find such a solution, the project which you were commissioned to “whitewash”, submitted at the time by Dart’s DECCO division, was rejected, and rated by our Central Tenders Committee (CTC) as the worst of all proposals considered.  The CTC expressed “great concern” about the environmental impact of a dump in an “environmentally sensitive area”.  Of course, the “draft ES” produced by the firm chosen and paid by Dart, expresses no such concern!

The Dart dump deal has been cloaked in secrecy, and has disregarded due process and the rule of law from the onset.  The people of this country have never been consulted on the need to relocate the George Town (GT) landfill, rather than solving the problem where it is, nor on the choice of BT as an alternative location if indeed one is required.  The “public consultations” which were staged by Dart – with the complicity of Cardno Entrix – were a sham, restricting input only to the Dart proposal, and allowing no opportunity for the people of this country to voice their opinion on the need to move the present landfill, nor on the choice of BT.

We firmly believe that the GT landfill problem can and must be fixed where it is, without contaminating a new site.  We firmly believe that the only reason for relocating it (and “exporting” the problem elsewhere) is to allow Dart to expand and increase the value of its Camana Bay real estate holdings.  The Coalition to Keep BT Dump Free considers it an environmental and social injustice to needlessly dump the island’s waste problem on an environmentally sensitive area, where ordinary working people invested in homes with no prior knowledge of a waste management facility in their neighbourhood; rather than rectifying the waste problem where it is, in an industrial zone in GT close to the source of most of our trash.

As to the costs and dangers of locating a dump so far from the source of most of the island’s waste, your “draft ES” includes nothing about the needless waste of travel time, truck fuel, wear-and-tear of our roads and vehicles, the increased noise, pollution and safety hazards involved in the additional truck mileage, or about the spike in illegal dumping which we can certainly expect from moving the dump so far from the island’s main population and business centres.

On the contrary, you consider as positive and “significant” the proposed site’s “remote location” and the “presence of nearby quarry operations”.  One can’t help but question the values and priorities of the Dart Group and its hired help.  The substantial residential community in neighbouring Midland Acres doesn’t seem to count at all.  The proposed site is certainly “remote” from Dart’s Camana Bay and from the main source of Grand Cayman’s waste, but it certainly is not “remote” from these residents, nor from the thousands living in BT.

As stated by Coalition leader and Midland Acres resident Ms Arlene Whittaker: “To do this simply to accommodate Dart’s plan to add a residential project for the wealthy to Camana Bay, although Dart was well aware of a landfill in the vicinity when it purchased the Camana Bay land, is a travesty of justice, and of environmental good sense.”  We find the complicity of Cardno Entrix in this operation to be regrettable, and we’ll have no part of it.

Sincerely,

Alain Beiner

Chairman,

Coordinating Committee

Coalition to Keep BT Dump Free

END

Please see attachment to view Cardno Entrix’s invitation