[IPSM] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Illegal Dumping Uncovered at Quarry Situated On Mohawk Land

[stef at tao.ca]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Illegal Dumping Uncovered at Quarry Situated On Mohawk Land

Thursday, April 5th, 2007: Evidence of extensive illegal dumping -
including large amounts of asphalt – has been found by the Mohawks of
Tyendinaga.  This discovery was made at the Thurlow Aggregates quarry
site, occupied by the Mohawks for the past two weeks.  The quarry is
situated within the Culbertson Tract, land that is currently under
Claim and that the Government has acknowledged rightfully belongs to
the Mohawk community of Tyendinaga.

Three days ago, Band Council environment officials were alerted to the
situation, documented the disturbing findings, and advised the
Province of Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources. This Ministry is
also responsible for quarry and aggregate licensing, and has until now
refused to comment on the demand that Thurlow Aggregates have its
licence revoked pending the ongoing land claim negotiations between
the Mohawk community and the Canadian government.

The District Manager of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Jane
Ireland, of the Peterborough MNR, is expected at the quarry at 12:00
noon today.  The Mohawks have said that she will be granted access to
the site to view and document the dumping.

 "The minister's office cannot claim it didn't know.  It would be
obvious to any inspector what was going on here, including open
burning of hazardous materials like industrial batteries, construction
waste and oil filters," said Mohawk Jay Maracle.

"It is now becoming clear why (Minister of Natural Resources) David
Ramsay didn't want to revoke the quarry licence.  The Province was
using it to dump large amounts of Provincial Highway pavement instead
of properly disposing of it," said spokesman Shawn Brant. "Now, they
are responsible for a local environmental catastrophe."

Press Inquiries, contact: Shawn Brant, Tyendinaga, 613. 391.4055

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BACKGROUNDER: Week of April 1st, 2007

Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte who have been occupying the quarry site for the
past two weeks became curious about piles of dirt scattered around, which
did not line up with clean gravel materials typical of a quarry. Upon
closer investigation, it became evident that the quarry owner had pushed
piles of dirt over certain areas, in a hasty attempt to cover up burn
pits, filled with smashed batteries, oil filters, shingle, construction
material. there are at least five such areas within the quarry.

It also appears that the other material which had been disposed of
illegally was tonnes of broken pavement, marked with yellow paint, that
seem to come from a provincial highway refurbishment project which took
place last year - Highway 2 between Deseronto and Napanee. The Province of
Ontario would have overseen this project, been obliged to have a Ministry
official participating in the project, and also would have been
responsible for ensuring that the concrete was trucked to a recycling
depot. There is such a depot, but it lies several hours away. the
reclaimed quarry, however, is directly adjacent to this stretch of road.

The band council's environmental officer has been called in and
photographs and details have been recorded of the dumping activities. The
information has been turned over to the Province of Ontario's Ministry of
Natural Resources - the same Ministry which has, as of yet, refused to
revoke the quarry license, and has also remained quiet on the reclamation
of the quarry by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.

Community members are awaiting the response of David Ramsay, Minister of
Natural Resources, has to say, now that the crime is not only one of
stealing land (literally) from the rightful holders of the Culbertson
Tract, but also a crime of polluting and destroying the land that has not
been physically removed.

The community also wants the licence for the quarry to be revoked because
the land has been stolen, rather than providing an opportunity for the MNR
to save face by revoking it on grounds of environmental standards. This is
particularly true, it seems, because the quarry itself is substandard,
nevermind the illegal dumping activities, and has been allowed to continue
functioning without Ministry intervention for years.

Therefore, a short-term solution of suspension pending an environmental
assessment, would not be acceptable. The land should be fully returned to
the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, and nothing less.

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BACKGROUNDER:  Mohawks block off disputed quarry

Friday, March 23, 2007 @ 00:00
By Jeremy Ashley
DESERONTO/Osprey News Network

Clad in camouflaged apparel and hauling camping gear, more than 125
members of the mohawks of the Bay of Quinte community seized control of a
gravel quarry on a disputed tract of land located along the northeastern
outskirts of Deseronto last night.

Shortly before 5 p.m., the winding access road leading to the Thurlow
Aggregates gravel pit off of Deseronto Road was blocked off by mohawk
protesters in several vehicles, including two school buses and an number
of all-terrain vehicles.

Protesters and members of the mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ) band
council say the move is to reinforce an earlier request to have the
quarry’s operation stopped.

Flanked by members of his council, MBQ Chief R. Donald Maracle said the
event was to “basically send a message to Canada that it is unacceptable
to continue to develop land that is unsettled.”

The demonstrators say they are reclaiming a small part of 925 acres known
as the Culbertson Land Tract, a parcel of land that they claim was
illegally taken from the MBQ in 1832.

Maracle said the occupation wasn’t formally supported by the MBQ band
council.

“The intervention that is occurring today is not officially sanctioned by
the mohawk council, but the mohawk council certainly understands the
frustration that young people have in achieving a resolution that’s in the
best interest of future generations.

“I’m here basically to point out that the government is not dealing fairly
with our people and helping us settle these claims amicably.”

Shawn Brant, a well-known mohawk activist, said the occupation of the
quarry is expected to go on for quite some time.

“Let me put it to you this way – once we’re dug in, it will take an air
strike to get us out,” the 42-year-old said.

“The quarry is something that strikes at the heart of the issue – it’s
very difficult to have negotiations at a time when they’re taking out
10,000 truckloads of our land [per year]. It’s an affront to our process.”

Establishing camps inside the quarry earlier in the evening, as many as
150 people acted as a “set-up crew,” Brant said.

Native communities throughout the province have “been put on notice” about
the group’s actions, and “all are waiting and it is our intention to draw
up support as it’s needed.”

Brant said it was his group’s intention “to close the quarry” but admitted
the group “was a little reluctant about a long-term campaign 
 what we
want to do is suspend his [quarry] licence until the land claim is
resolved.”

After a federal negotiator was appointed earlier this year, protesters
turned their attention to the quarry, claiming the operation would be
contributing material to the development of a new $30-million housing
development in Deseronto and pledged to shut down the site.

---------

Follow this link to listen to an interview with Shawn Brant, spokesperson,
Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory conducted for OCAP Radio on Friday, February
23:

http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=22399

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Quarry Use on Disputed Culbertson Tract:
Mohawk Community Demands End to Stealing of Land

Text from Information Leaflet distributed in Tyendinaga, Mohawk Territory
March 2007 -

The Culbertson is a tract of land, 923 acres in size that runs along the
eastern boundary of Tyendinaga. It was stolen by the Feds in 1837.
Tyendinaga's Chiefs immediately registered their people's dissent but no
formal legal process existed to pursue its return. After the Government
finally got around to creating such a process in 1991, Tyendinaga filed a
formal land claim.

In November 2003, the Feds acknowledged that the Culberston Tract was
never surrendered and is Mohawk Land. They then tried for several years to
get Tyendinaga to take a buy-out for the land. The people of Tyendinaga
repeatedly refused.

The town of Deseronto falls in the middle of the Culberston claim. The
Mayor of Deseronto said that the town's economic viability and survival
depends on the development of Culbertson tract lands and began promoting
the land for condos and townhouses late last year. Tyendinaga's
Rotiskenhrakehte successfully stopped development of these lands and the
developer publicly abandoned plans for a 30 million dollar project.

However, Thurlow Aggregates continues to operate a Gravel Quarry on
Culberston Tract lands. Despite the fact that Tyendinaga has requested its
licence be revoked given ongoing negotiations, the Ontario Ministry of
Natural Resources continues to license the quarry for the removal of
150,000 tons of gravel annually. Federal negotiations are clearly in bad
faith as they choose to ignore the 850 plus truckloads of Tyendinaga land
that are removed every month. In January 2007, Tyendinaga's
Rotiskenhrakehte gave the quarry operator 60 days notice to stop selling
off Mohawk land. The time for voluntary closure has lapsed and Tyendinaga
has now assumed the burden of closing the gravel pit.

- Text from Information Leaflet distributed in Tyendinaga, Mohawk Territory
March 2007