Knowing what's important
You've got to be impressed with somebody who is thoroughly devoted to the environment.
Frank Russell of Stephenville is one of those people. He's spent years trying to alert people to the need for better protection of local lands, rivers, ponds, air quality and so on. He's spent thousands of hours and thousands of his own dollars observing and documenting what's going on.
Frank is a down to earth guy who comes by his love of nature through the values of his Mi'kmaq ancestors. In fact, he has been honoured by the Mi'kmaq people as a Guardian of Mother Earth for his dedicated efforts.
He's not out to stop progress or economic development. His sincerity is obvious when he says he has no malice
toward anybody. But he's also dead serious about the need for strong measures.
"We need to see our environment protected at all costs," he says.
"My only motive is to protect people and Mother Earth."
He believes polluters should be prosecuted, if necessary.
Frank is a heavy equipment operator, and he's concerned about any soil that could be contaminated being simply moved to another site and used as fill. He's also a licenced designer of septic systems.
Another issue that's important to him is the need for sewage treatment in towns like Stephenville.
"I strongly support the town trying to clean up the area and build a sewage treatment plant. And I hope the new
Conservative government and MHAs will join in and do their part."
A major sewage outfall pours into Blanche's Brook near the old Kin centre. Frank remembers that it was a wonderful salmon river harvested by his forefathers.
"All you really need is to stop the sewer. Then after a year or two, the river would be crystal clear and would be a wonderful tourist attraction."
He says it's a lonely battle at times, so he urges people to become more knowledgeable about what's happening in their community, wherever it is, and join the efforts to deal seriously with pollution. The more who join in, the better the results will be for all of us.
He's right. If we leave it all up to a few exceptional guardians like him, we run the risk of losing some of our most important resources and legacies. If we agree with what he's doing, we should be prepared to join in and back him up so his efforts will pay off even more in the future.
John hanratly
The Georgian Newspaper, Nov 4-10, 2003
