Ontario environment’s minister says the company seeking to reopen a dormant waste disposal site near Dresden will need to undergo a “comprehensive environmental assessment.”
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Andrea Khanjin released a statement on X Friday night stating in recent weeks she has heard concerns raised by the local community and the Municipality of Chatham-Kent regarding applications by Mississauga-based York1 Environmental Waste Solutions “to reopen and expand a dormant landfill.
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“This site was established 40 years ago, prior to Ontario’s requirement that landfills undergo an environmental assessment,” the minister added.
“In keeping with the process that any other landfill would be required to undergo today, I will be taking steps to require this project to complete a comprehensive environmental assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act,” Khanjin said.
She said this would require the site to address community concerns and mitigate potential impacts before it could happen.
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Dresden area citizens and Chatham-Kent and Lambton County politicians are vehemently opposed to a proposal by York1 to develop a regenerative recycling facility seeking to accept up to 6,000 tons daily of non-hazardous construction and demolition waste, along with 30,000 tons of unprocessed soils.
The company also has a proposal to create an eight hectare (20 acre) landfill with 1.62 million cubic meters of waste capacity on the 35-hectare (86-acre) site with a maximum fill rate of 365,000 tonnes a year – an average of 1,000 tons daily. The application is to accept non-hazardous industrial, commercial institutional and municipal demolition and construction waste along with non-hazardous contaminated soil.
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York1 is also requesting the recycling and landfill project be allowed to operate 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week at the property located at 29831 Irish School Road, less than a kilometer from Dresden.
Since York1 is seeking to amend existing permits at the dormant waste disposal site, the company argues it will allow for less of an environmental review process to proceed.
Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff said although a full-blown environmental assessment will take a lot of time and money by York1, “it doesn’t stop (the project) now.
“It isn’t a zero per hundred chance of happening,” Canniff added. “That’s what the public is looking for, to say, ‘No, it’s done.’ This doesn’t do that.”
The municipality released an update Friday after completing its submission to the environment ministry regarding York1’s initial application for an increase in waste processing capacity for its proposed recycling facility.
The details, available online at www.letstalkchatham-kent.ca.
The Chatham Daily News has contacted York1 for comment.
Story will be updated.
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