How Sustainable is Out-of-Sight-Out-of Mind? The City of Toronto and its Waste

Case studies are the foundations of applied ethics. Case studies illustrate conflicts of interest and conflicts of principle. Potential solutions call for action plans and resolutions to the conflicts, which satisfy all the stakeholders, and adjudicate the miscellany of values involved. In the best cases, sustainable ethical values trump. It is not often that one can look back over a case that was settled, to see how ethical the resolution was, and whether things could have or should have been done differently; in this case we can. This case study involves a conflict over the use of the Adams Mine, and the Kirkland Lake area, outside Toronto, Canada. For the moment, and perhaps forever, the case has been resolved, seemingly in favor of local environmental and sustainability issues, thus allowing reflections on whether correct and sustainable decisions were made