Cawthra (Bush) Wetlands
by a Very Large
Watermain Trench
The details of this can be found here.
When the watermain was put down the east side of the Cawthra Bush, a deep trench was dug for it to sit in. The bedrock is a flat table of shale some 6 to 8 feet below the surface. The cut into the shale created an underground ditch for ground water to flow into, sometimes called the French drain effect. In the above picture holes made by ground water flowing out of the Cawthra Bush can be clearly seen. The white is frost as the construction was done in the winter of 1994/95.
Here you can see another example at the head of the trench being dug. Note the ladder
So great was the flow of water from the Cawthra Bush that it collapsed the side of the trench. Before the digging had begun, we were promised, in writing, that a trench box would be used to help keep the trench being dug narrow and not disturb the surrounding area as much. A promise not worth the paper it was printed on as the construction company doing the work decided after making the promise, that a trench box was not need!
Such negligence was not only environmental damaging but put the lives of the workers at risk! The facts were presented to Ontario Ministry of Labour and a Stop Work Order was issued!
The use of a trench box, seen in the above picture, may have made it safer for the construction workers but clearly the Cawthra Bush is bleeding to death.
After the trench box was put in work did not start up right away. This picture was taken in the same place as the one above a week or so later. We can see that due to the high volume of water flowing out of the Cawthra Bush an ever larger hole is being created and this is just in one place.
Further to the south and after the trench was covered over and all the measures installed they we were assured would stop the flow of water in the trench, the evidence of a new underground creek is unmistakable. As a value was to be installed in this section, the trench was cut deeper. A safety hazard was called in and this forced the construction company to pump this section dry all the time. Using a 5 gallon pail, a measurement of between 40,000 and 60,000 gallons, per-day was discovered. Flowing straight toward the C.N. rail tracks.
I have no reason to believe the water is not flowing to this day south, draining the Cawthra Bush/Wetlands and towards the C.N. rail tracks. The City of Mississauga has gone to great lengths to cover up the facts presented to them about this water flow - wonder why?
More on this to come.
PLEEASSE SIGN OUR PETITION
It will make a difference!
Home page - Main Table of Contents - Back up a page - Back to Top