By Bill Jackson - The Regional
Remediation of environmental issues at the Edwards Landfill site in Cayuga will be undertaken once it's operating.
But according to a court appointed receiver who has been attempting to "stabilize" the site, community resistance has only delayed the process.
Four people were arrested on Dec. 8 after a group of protesters tried to prevent waste haulers from entering the landfill which can accept industrial, commercial and institutional garbage under a valid certificate of approval issued by
Protesters initially prevented trucks from entering the site back in the fall of 2007 and the dump has been opposed by a local community group for more than four years.
The dump first accepted waste back in 1959 and concerns remain regarding toxic contamination on the site.
At a Haldimand County Council in Committee meeting on Monday, local Coun. Buck Sloat expressed concern that the dump's present proponent is not following several conditions set out in the certificate of approval. Water is being pumped into ditches and he isn't sure what's in the water because testing is not being done properly, he contends.
Sloat noted that
However according to a letter responding to HALT's concerns that's dated Dec. 8 from Bill Bardswick, the Ministry of the Environment's West Central Region Director, "on-site inspection has confirmed that the new cell has been dewatered to expose the stone drainage layer. Based on this information, the ministry has no further objections to the commencement of landfilling operations."
"I can tell you that the ministry is reviewing both internally and with the receiver all of the compliance issued you raise – but I hasten to point out that for some conditions, such as the decommissioning schedule, compliance is complicated by a lack of continuous site access…
"Finally, in terms of the concerns you express about mounting tensions and personal safety, I trust and sincerely hope that all involved will respect the law and avoid the escalation you mention."
Decommissioning of the site is the subject of a paragraph in a November, 2007
"When the judge made an injunction last year he put in certain conditions that if we operated, certain amounts would be paid in accordance with financial assurance and other monies would be earmarked for the remediation of the old environment issues that remain on the property," said Brahm Rosen of SLP Partnership, LLP Chartered Accountants.
"Those monies obviously haven't been paid because we didn't operate and didn't have operating cash flow."
A total of $606,000 in up front assurance has been paid, he noted.
Community concerns pertaining to unfulfilled conditions of the C of A are "unfounded" in Rosen's opinion.
"We could eat dinner off the cell and everyone be happy about it and they probably still would never feel that we're in compliance because their objectives are maybe beyond just being in compliance with the C of A," he said.
According to MOE spokesperson Jane Glasco, the ministry will continue to work with the receiver to ensure that the site is protected and environmental concerns are addressed.
"The ministry is satisfied that the site has been sufficiently prepared to receive waste in a manner that will not cause environmental impact," she said.
Rosen said mitigation measures are "fluid and ongoing."
"We are heavily scrutinized by the MOE and heavily scrutinized by the courts (and engineers)… they determined we were within our rights and it was appropriate that we are able to bring in waste and we complied with whatever we had to comply with," Rosen stated.
"The MOE isn't going away. If we start bringing in waste and start dumping it in the cells starting tomorrow or next week or three months from now, they're going to still be there and watching us because it's a regulated industry."