Cumberland residents trash Boundary Road landfill approval
Little city can do to block landfill, says Cumberland Coun. Stephen Blais
Conditions tied to the province's environmental approval of a landfill proposed for Ottawa's east end do little to address the concerns of people living near the site, community leaders say.
The proposed Taggart Miller Environmental Services waste facility at Boundary Road just south of Highway 417 would accept a variety of refuse generated in Ontario including industrial, commercial, construction and demolition waste.
Community groups have long opposed the planned dump and both Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson and Cumberland Coun. Stephen Blais sent a letter to the province last year asking it to reject the proposed facility.
But on Monday the province's environment ministry OK'd an environmental assessment, placing 15 conditions on its approval.
Both Blais and Lucie Regimbald, a community activist who opposes the dump, told Hallie Cotnam on CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning those conditions failed to meet their concerns.
Conditions vague, toothless
Regimbald said the conditions are vague and toothless.
For example, a condition to establish a community liaison committee sounds good in principle, but in practice won't give the landfill's neighbours a greater voice, she said.
"That committee will have no power, it will just be there like a sounding board," she said. "That itself is not a big condition."
Blais said the city was concerned about groundwater contamination, as well as the environmental impact of trucking contaminated leachate to the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre in Beacon Hill for treatment.
He said until the province figures out how to deal with industrial, commercial and institutional waste, landfills like the one being proposed will keep winning approval.
"There is no incentive program, there are no requirements for institutions to do recycling," he said. "Some will choose to pay extra money to recycle but many don't because its a decision on the bottom line.
"Burying garbage, unfortunately, because we have so much land, will always be cheaper than choosing alternatives."
Taggart Miller's environmental assessment documents set out an overall target of diverting 49 per cent of the 10 to 13 million tonnes of waste it expects to take in over 30 years, while the rest would be sent to landfill.
Province satisfied with proposal
Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson for Glen Murray, the environment and climate change minister, said in a statement "comments received during the consultation process were carefully considered in the Minister's decision to approve — with conditions — the proposal to develop a new landfill site.
"Taggart Miller has complied with all the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act and has demonstrated that any potential environmental effects will be appropriately prevented, changed, mitigated or remedied," Wheeler wrote.
Lee Ann Snedden, the director of planning services for the planning, infrastructure and economic development department, said in a statement city staff were reviewing the provincial conditions and would advise council on to what extent the city's recommendations were adopted.
"If and when development applications are submitted, the City will also review outstanding issues through the planning processes," she wrote.
Blais said the city could still block the landfill at any one of the stages remaining in the application process, including requests to amend the zoning and review the site plan. But he said given the province's approval, any decision to block the project would likely be overturned at the Ontario Municipal Board.
He said it might be more fruitful to work with Taggart Miller to convince the company to alter its plans in ways that address the concerns of the city and surrounding community.
Regimbald said she isn't giving up either.
"There's not much we can do legally, but there are other hurdles, there are many things that are going to happen, and if we can at least influence it to our advantage, wel,l we will."