Take Dresden landfill fight provincewide: Chatham-Kent mayor

DRESDEN – The fight against a proposed landfill and recycling project near this rural community needs to go provincewide, Chatham-Kent’s mayor says.

Article content

That was Darrin Canniff’s message to a public information meeting held by volunteer citizen group Dresden CARED (Citizens Against Reckless Environmental Disposal) Thursday night.

Article content

“We want all of Chatham-Kent fighting with you,” he said.

The meeting urged as many people as possible to comment on a recent Environmental Review of Ontario (ERO) posting by the Environment Ministry about York1 Environmental Waste Solutions’ proposal for a large-scale landfill and waste disposal operation.

Don’t just contact people you know in Chatham-Kent, but ask people across Ontario to go online and state their opposition to the project, Canniff said, adding it’s “critical” to push the province at least require an environmental assessment.

Article content

“That will push (the project) off years and it is going to cost them (York1) a lot of money,” Canniff said.

Comments can be made online at ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-8417 until May 10.

York1, a Mississauga company, has faced fierce opposition from residents and municipal governments over its plans to reopen an eight-hectare (20-acre) landfill and re-establish and expand an existing 0.8-hectare (two-acre) waste processing site to 25 hectares (62.5 acres) at 29831 Irish School Rd., less than a kilometer north of Dresden.

York1 seeks permission to build a new landfill cell with capacity of 1.62 million cubic meters to accept about 1,000 tonnes a day of non-hazardous solid waste, including construction and demolition waste and excess soil.

Article content

It also wants to develop a regenerative recycling facility to receive, store and process as much as 6,000 tonnes a day of solid, non-hazardous waste, including blue box, construction and demolition waste, tires, asbestos, excess soil and organic waste.

Martha Fehr, a Dresden CARED board member, said the most important thing right now is to get as many people filing comments to the ERO opposing York1’s proposal.

“When you comment, that is going to help the (ministry) decide if an (environmental assessment) is done or not,” she said. “Obviously, as a group, we want this project to be stopped, but if this is step in that direction, than we’re happy to do that step.”

Article content

The group had computers set up at Thursday’s meeting to allow people to comment on the spot.

Area resident Kevin Jakubec cited a successful campaign against a proposed Oxford County landfill, which saw the town of Ingersoll commit $100,000 a year to cover legal fees.

He asked if Chatham-Kent has budgeted money to address this issue.

Noting the municipality has hired an environmental law firm and an engineering firm specializing in landfills, Canniff said there is no specific budget to deal with this issue, but there is also no spending cap.

“Council said, unanimously, fight this until it’s done,” he said.

“We, together, as Chatham-Kent, will fight this until this no longer an issue,” he added, to applause from the crowd.

Article content

The ministry notice was filed March 26 following an X post from Minister Andrea Khanjin saying she would require York1 to complete a comprehensive environmental assessment of the proposals under the Environmental Assessment Act.

The ministry notice also specifically addresses issues raised by local residents and municipalities.

“We have heard the concerns of the people of Dresden about York1(‘s) . . . proposal to start receiving waste at a local landfill site that has not been in operation since the 1980s,” it said.

“We also know that an environmental assessment (EA) has never been completed for this site, because the landfill predates Ontario’s (EA) requirements for landfills,” it added. “We recognize the potential impact that a landfill of this size could have on the local residents and the surrounding environment.”

“If there’s a lot of pressure, there’s a reason,” said Fehr, noting there are other dormant landfills in Chatham-Kent and across Ontario. “We’re fighting a fight. . . to protect Ontario.”

[email protected]

Article content