I am responding to Doug Draper's column of April 18 pertaining to Earth Day.

I settled in the Niagara region in 1950 after coming here from Hungary. After my arrival in Canada, I worked in the tobacco industry and also in the Yukon. What brought me to the Niagara region was Niagara Falls. This was a place I had only dreamed of in my youth.

To my surprise, agriculturally speaking, Niagara was much like Hungary. Not only did this region produce tender fruits, but like home the soil was also made up of sandy loam.

I told my friends I had reached Nirvana; paradise. I had worked with grapes as a boy prior to the Communists stripping us of our property and business, so I was thrilled to find Niagara-on-the-Lake. I am here, 50 years later, having lived through Nazism and Communism in Europe, luckier than many family members who were unfortunately murdered by them.

However, I digress. This article is meant to address Earth Day.

Here is the dichotomy. We live in this halcyon time, yet have no answer to air or water pollution.

Allow me to explain. Where I live it became incumbent on me to put in a septic system prior to building a new home.

What transpired was beyond my comprehension. A university-educated engineer was in charge of the project and although he possessed a university degree, he lacked the practical application of the system.

A 24x24-foot hole was dug and then pipes were placed in it, one foot apart. Fine sand was placed at the bottom. This system is completely useless when it rains, as instead of the water running off it sits on top. In Europe, however, a large hole would be dug and one man rock, two to three feet deep, would be be spread out and covered with plastic. A pipe would be led into this and thus, the water disappears, rather than collecting on the top. The pipes need to be spread out sufficiently so that the tile bed beneath does not allow anything to become plugged up.

Employing this method, all the water runs away instead of collecting and hence the system is a success. I was charged $16,000 and am still without a successful system. Also, all the chemicals used in our fruit industry run into Lake Ontario. This does not comply with Earth Day, but rather, makes a complete mockery of it.

Does anyone in Niagara-on-the-Lake know that half of Read Road in St. Catharines has sewer and water services, while the other half does not? The half that is devoid of services is situated in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The reason stated is that there isn't enough money to correct this problem. So, Niagara-on-the-Lake lets the sewage flush into our rivers and lakes. As we are surrounded by water, it is only natural that the sewage goes this way.

I love this area due to the fruit; peaches just like those in Hungary.

Back in the days when we worked in the bush harvesting tobacco, Canada didn't have the same money it has today. We have more money now, and yet, we are still told that there isn't sufficient money to install a proper sewage system.

Niagara-on-the-Lake is the wealthiest part of Canada going back as far as 50 years, so suffice it to say, we can and should do better where this sewer system is concerned.

George Suba

Niagara-on-the-Lake