A graphic of the proposed Southwestern Landfill in Zorra Township as presented in the executive summary of the draft environmental assesstment.
Handout
After pushing the pause button in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Walker Environmental has resumed the public consultation process for its Southwestern Landfill draft environmental assessment, the company announced Wednesday morning.
The consultation will now run from June 3 to Aug. 28 and shift to digital methods to allow the public to participate in virtual events. The move is intended to follow public-health guidelines, the release stated.
The first online open house will take place June 17 at 6 p.m.
“It’s appropriate to restart public consultations after a two-month pause now that Ontario is in stage one of its reopening process,” Darren Fry, the project director, said in a release.
“It’s important to keep this project moving, given that waste management is an essential service and Ontario has a significant landfill capacity deficit.”
The joint municipal co-ordinating committee – a group of politicians and municipal staff from Ingersoll, Zorra Township and South-West Oxford Township – sent a letter March 20 asking Walker to delay the consultation period due to COVID-19.
The original open house was scheduled for March 25 but postponed due to public-health guidelines.
Walker released its draft assessment – a document that identifies and evaluates the environmental effects of the mega-dump proposal – earlier in March.
Handout
jpg, WD
The lengthy assessment – 10 three-inch binders of information that touted the economic benefits of the proposed landfill – suggested it would bring an estimated $349 million locally and $800 million to the province during its projected 20-year lifespan.
The mega-dump would also bring an estimated 57 full-time jobs and nearly $80,000 in property taxes each year to Zorra, the assessment stated.
The landfill’s opponents, including local activists, municipal politicians and hundreds of Oxford County residents, contend the mega-dump could negatively impact the region’s water and air quality.
The co-ordinating committee also has a team of scientific experts studying the assessment to bring any concerns or criticism to Walker before the deadline.
The landfill is anticipated to accept 850,000 tonnes of material every year for 20 years to the proposed Zorra Township site, a limestone quarry not far from Highway 401.
Estimates from Walker suggest there would be more than 150 garbage trucks a day hauling trash to the landfill.
Despite the local opposition, Walker maintains its proposal landfill would help address a provincial need for landfills since many are nearing full capacity.
According to the Ontario Waste Management Association’s 2018 report, the province’s landfill capacity is expected to be exhausted by 2032. If the United States were to prohibit Ontario waste, that date would be bumped up to 2028.
Participants in the initial web conference can email questions in advance to [email protected].
To register for the event, or see the report, people can visit www.walkerea.com.
Other key findings in the environmental assessment include:
- The project will use a Ministry of the Environment-designed “generic double liner” for the site to keep landfill materials away from the property’s limestone bedrock.
- Walker says a human-health assessment determined “none of the emissions from the proposed landfill or its traffic, through the air, water and/or soil, would result in any unacceptable short- or long-term health risks to the community.”
- Walker suggested the economic boost from the landfill might even result in net positive health outcomes for local communities.
- There are 90 homes fewer than a kilometre from the site and two homes within 500 metres, as well as a rural cemetery.
- While there are no animal habitats on the site because of active quarry operations, Walker noted there are nearby fish habitats, woodlands and meadows to the west and south of the site that provide habitat for endangered bats and threatened bird species.
- The lifespan of the landfill is proposed to be 20 years, beginning in 2023.
- Walker conducted 15 individual studies to produce the report, including detailed studies of traffic, human health, greenhouse-gas emissions, ground and surface water and agriculture.
- Walker is proposing to use County Road 6 from Highway 401 to access the site.
- Housing the landfill in a former quarry will mitigate the loss of natural environment and reduce the overall visibility of the site, Walker said.
- The environmental assessment outlines a number of mitigation measures to lessen some of the more undesirable impacts, including potential compensation for nearby homeowners and a public input committee to review site operations.
- Leachate, the potentially toxic mix of landfill waste fluid, will be treated at an on-site facility. Once treated to meet provincial water quality standards, it will be discharged into the watershed system.
Environment assessment timeline
- The draft assessment looked at 15 different aspects, such as agriculture, air quality, ecology and others while also focusing on the cumulative effects
- The assessment took between about seven years to complete
- Environmental assessment began in 2012
- Terms of reference were submitted to province in 2014
- Terms of reference approved by province in March 2016
- Draft environmental assessment released in March 2020
Southwestern Landfill Proposal
- In Zorra Township in Oxford County
- Site is former industrial land owned by Carmeuse Lime
- Total capacity would be 17-million cubic metres
- Annual capacity of up to 1.1-million tonnes
- Would accept up to 850,000 tonnes of waste per year
- Estimated operational period would be 20 years
