Dear Editor:
Why don’t our municipal representatives care about the condition of Muskrat Lake?
Ever since moving to Cobden in 2007 I’ve been concerned about the deplorable condition of Muskrat Lake.
Let’s just go back to May 18, 2015. After reading the report, “Township of Bromley Municipal Drainage Project Environmental Appraisal”, prepared by Hough, Stansbury & Michalski Limited in 1981 in which there was a recommendation on how to move forward with the remediation of Muskrat Lake, I decided to send a letter to the Mayor and CAO of Whitewater Region asking them to join with Admaston Bromley and Whitewater Region and retain the services of Mr. Michalski to co-ordinate a committee on his above recommendation.
Since I did not receive a reply by mid-June I requested to the CAO of Whitewater Region to do a presentation to council on the same issue. The presentation was given to council on July 22, 2015. After the council meeting there was limited discussion but no motion was put forward to proceed on the recommendation.
On July 23, since I was wondering what happened after I left the meeting, I called the CAO of Whitewater Region and was told that there was no further discussion after I left the council meeting. When I asked her if I was going to get a reply to my letter of May 18, 2015 she told me that there would be no reply and that the letter had been filed.
In early August I sent an e-mail to the Chairman of the Whitewater Region Environmental Committee asking what action Whitewater Region Council was taking for the remediation of Muskrat Lake. As of today I’ve had no response to this request.
On August 12, 2015 another e-mail was sent to Peter Emon, Warden of Renfrew County, asking what action the county is taking for the remediation of Muskrat Lake.
On September 8, 2015 I received a letter from Warden Peter Emon saying and I quote: “An important part of OPA11 is the policy promoting a local improvement council to take the lead in addressing water quality issues for Muskrat Lake by promoting public awareness, developing a water quality improvement plan and attracting funding.”
In other words the county has handed this problem off to the Muskrat Watershed Council and I believe that this is the same as what’s being done by Whitewater Region Council.
The only politician that I’ve talked to that seems interested in the remediation of Muskrat Lake is MP Cheryl Gallant. After calling her office in June she has responded with phone calls on two different occasions with suggestions as to how to move forward.
I find it amazing that our Whitewater Region Council wants to spend $60,000 to fix up the information booth but they say they have no funds to start the remediation of Muskrat Lake. What do we tell tourists who stop at the information booth? “Yes we used to have a beautiful lake but unfortunately the E.Coli is the highest it’s ever been and the algae blooms are everywhere.
Regards
Donald W. Deer P.Eng.
Cobden, ON
