Sent: September 13, 2012
Dear Councillor Grimes:
I am writing on behalf of the Mimico Residents Association regarding our ongoing concern with respect to the effects that the pending St. Mary’s Cement plant on New Toronto Street will impose on our neighbourhood.
In addition to the concern of the inadvertent release of concrete dust residents of Mimico are concerned about the large increase of truck traffic in our community. With the opening of this plant there will be, on a weekly basis, hundreds of new truck movements. The mere presence of these vehicles rumbling down our streets is the most obvious impact of these large vehicles.
However, residents are more worried about the effect of diesel fuel exhaust upon their families. Unfortunately there is no clear measure of the effect of this exhaust as the South Etobicoke Air Shed study has yet to be reported. You are no doubt aware of the recent report of the World Health Organization that reclassified diesel exhaust in the same category of carcinogens as asbestos, arsenic, mustard gas and tobacco.
The Mimico Residents Association is asking that the City of Toronto make every effort to ensure that truck traffic emanating from the pending St. Mary’s concrete batching plant be restricted from entering the residential portion of Mimico. Specifically, we ask that St. Mary’s vehicles be banned from using residential streets and ensure they are using Kipling and Islington. One of the manners in which this could be accomplished is to restrict left turns coming out of their plant on to New Toronto Street. This would eliminate any traffic on Dwight and Drummond.
The Mimico Residents Association looks forward to your response on the above request.
Yours sincerely,
Kyra Trainor
President, Mimico Residents Assssocation