Comment
As a resident of Dresden, Ontario, I am deeply concerned with the fact that York1 intends to build a megadump 1km from our small town.
New laws from the Ministry of Environment state that 3.5 km is the required distance. The Ministry of Environment also states, that anything under 3km may cause adverse effects. Our entire town will be within a 3km radius of this megadump. The responsible thing to do when building what will eventually be a megadump (stated by their specislist at table 4 at the information session they held), would be to keep it 3.5 km from any town but they are doing their best to avoid environmental assessments. They are using a permit from 1979 that was issued by the town of Dresden to bury 95% fly ash on a small plot (approximately 2 acres was used) and are stating that they don’t have to have an environmental assessment to expand because it is an existing landfill. They are calling the area a landfill but it was not a landfill, the permission in 1979 given by the town of Dresden, was for fly ash only. It has been dormant over 30 years. The previous owner that sold this property to York1 was fined by the current municipality for trying to bury waste. He was fined because the area was not zoned as a landfill or dump.
I'm sure we can all agree that it is impossible to think of many things that were considered acceptable in 1979 that are still considered acceptable. And certainly environmental standards have completely changed in 45 years.
They are stating that they are not required to do road studies. They can just start sending trucks daily to unload. Eventually there will be up to 700 trucks daily and 2 Million tonnes of waste annually to their NEW facility, they are doing their own study just for our benefit. Our roads are not built for this type if traffic, they are already in rough shape.
We also are a farming community, farm equipment frequents our community at a very slow pace causing traffic delays. Harvest and planting season can be chaotic on the roads.
We also have tiered bussing so our children are in busses on these roads for 4 hours daily, 10 months out of the year. This seems very irresponsible in my opinion. These types of facilities need to be in an area close to major highways like 401 to keep our communities and children safe from this type of traffic.
My daughter is currently enrolled in a school less than 3km from the proposed location. Her future high school is located 1km from the proposed location. We located in this community intentionally because of the quality of schools.
I am concerned about the environment impact. We have 83 endangered species at risk in our area. The property is located in a flood plain which is of huge concern. There is a marsh, pond and creeks on the property as well that connect to the Sydenham River. The Sydenham River flows through town - and across from our home.
Specifically I believe the approval of this will result in the following pollutants to our community:
water pollution through leachate being released into the creek and flowing into local waterways;
air pollution through dust blowing contaminants through the refuse process.
air pollution due to the heavy trucking projection.
noise pollution from the heavy trucking projection.
noise pollution due to the 24/7 requested hours
light pollution due to the 24/7 requested hours.
Unfortunately we are currently without a provincial MPP to represent us in opposing this development. I hope you are able to fully communicate our concerns to the MOE.
Submitted March 2, 2024 2:40 PM
Comment on
York1 Environmental Waste Solutions Ltd., as general partner for and on behalf of York1 Environmental Waste Solutions LP - Environmental Compliance Approval (waste)
ERO number
019-8313
Comment ID
96520
Commenting on behalf of
Comment status