This communication relates…

This communication relates to the letter received March 4, 2020. I, as a property owner and resident of the area, have some concerns about the proposed expansion. Listed in no particular order.
Figures are given by the company in the letter for the number of tonnes of waste coming and going from the plant 24/7 365 days a year. What is really at question here is not the volume but rather the number of trucks and size of trucks entering the area via basically 40 kph residential streets. How many trucks are required to ship in 1,240 tonnes/day and then back out? Are the importing trucks leaving empty or are they being used to truck out the product? So are there two completely different sets of large trucks travelling these residential streets?
The letter indicates that the transfer of waste will be inside, however, the trucks which are not air tight themselves will be out in the area full and empty. I’m sure they will not be the nicest smelling, especially during the warm months. I’ve smelled the trucks that transfer non-food waste from transfer stations in Metro Toronto on the highways (401) and it isn’t pleasant to travel near them for very long.
Plant odour is another unknown. The sewage treatment plant at the end of Beechgrove that is supposed to “not smell”, seems to be very stinky at times. Will this plant add to that?
Food waste is bound to attract vermin. Both rodent and insect levels are likely to increase. In the past few years, with the recent sewer disruptions, I’ve already seen an increase in the rat population so much so that a neighbour made the news when she was bitten by a rat in her backyard. What measures are in place or will be improved with this expansion.
One of my greatest questions relates to the choice of location for recycling in the first place. There is one elementary school approximately 500 Metres from the plant and 3 more that are within 1KM. Two of these schools are located on approach roads to the plant. Also, in the letter it states that a significant amount of the product (fertilizer) will be shipped out to farm land. By my way of thinking waste is being shipped through the city to the most southern part of Toronto (on the lakeshore) and then the product is being shipped, again through the city to be used on farm land. With the constant expansion of Toronto, because of house construction, this distance will be increasing annually making it further and further from the plant on the lakeshore to the farm land. It would seem more economical and functionally prudent to build a new plant out of the city so that human contact with the waste and the product would be minimized.
Final point, how will this type of plant and the resultant truck traffic affect the property values in the area.
Part of my real concerns stem from the way in which I first learned of this proposal. In, I believe it was January, one notice appeared at one home in the area and that had been copied by neighbours that talk to one another, not originating from the plant. This made me wonder what else was going on, with the plant, that the company was not telling anyone in the neighbourhood. Were they really sincere in the public consultation process? I contacted my MPP and have yet to get a response. Hopefully, the Ministry will keep the public informed on the progress. I have received all kinds of progress reports on the sewage treatment plant upgrades and the sewer upgrades but this plant expansion seems to be almost flying under the radar. I would appreciate some form of response to at least let me know that my concerns have been read by someone.
Sincerely yours,