Living extremely close to…

Living extremely close to this proposed biosolids storage site, I have some important concerns. The location of this proposed site is in the worst possible location for a contamination event that could damage the fragile ecosystem of the Sydenham River. The river, which contains a number of rare species in this area, such as the Spiny Soft Shelled turtle plus 4 other rare species of turtles, 10 fish species at risk, 15 species of rare mussels at risk, several of which are only found in the Sydenham River, plus several additional species at risk. This proposed biosolids storage site is only a few hundred meters from the Sydenham. The property that the site is to be constructed on is a known groundwater recharge area that is regularly flooded with tremendous volumes of water at each and every major rainfall event.
There are also old water wells on this property that have never been properly decommissioned and are a direct conduit to the groundwater beneath. We are seriously concerned about the potential contamination of our water well and those wells of our neighbours from the huge piles of biosolids that will be several hundred meters from our water well. This water well supplies our home as well as our cattle herd of grass finished beef. Our grass finished beef is sold directly to consumers throughout Southwestern Ontario. I also have major concerns about the contaminants known to be found in these biosolids. These biosolids not only contain a number of extremely toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and arsenic but also contain dangerous and highly toxic PFAS , per-and polyflouroalkyl substances known as " Forever Chemicals " because they do not breakdown in the environment or in the body. They are linked to cancers, thyroid disease , liver damage and numerous other maladies. The PFAS chemicals are known to be present in biosolids and often at dangerously high levels as has been experienced in Michigan. The biosolids in Ontario are not even monitored for levels of PFAS though this is routinely done in the U.S.. Not monitoring the levels of PFAS present in these biosolids is a gross oversight, if not wholly intentional on the part of the Ministry of the Environment, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. It is almost as if they do not want the public to know that this contaminant exists in the biosolids? The application of biosolids to agricultural land is currently banned in some states in the U.S. such as in Maine and in a number of European countries mainly because of concerns about PFAS present in the biosolids.
It is nothing short of irresponsible and at the very least, extremely short sighted to have this proposed site located on this vulnerable property and further, it is a terrible idea to actually spread this contaminated material on pristine agricultural land potentially compromising the integrity of the soil it is applied to forever.
Another serious concern of mine, pertains to the individuals that are proposing to build this storage site. They have a long and well documented history of breaking the rules as they relate to past storage of these biosolids materials in several other adjacent municipalities. They have been charged and convicted in the past relating to their actions with respect to biosolids. They have been effectively driven out of these other municipalities because of their poor stewardship of other biosolids storage sites in these municipalities. We have experienced first hand their irresponsible behaviours when they set up an illegal biosolids storage site on this same property that we are now considering, a few years back. In this case, they did not keep the biosolids properly tarped and allowed moisture to enter the pile causing numerous incidents of spontaneous combustion to occur. The resulting fires and smoke produced made being outside impossible without wanting to wretch from the disgusting smell produced. They carelessly spilled the biosolids into the adjacent ditch that had water in it flowing into the Sydenham. They carelessly spilled biosolids on to the road and the shoulder of the road. We have photos available of this taken at the time. In general, they exhibited shoddy stewardship of these biosolids at this site. Why would anyone in their right mind allow these irresponsible individuals to have control of such an environmentally sensitive storage site ?? One irresponsible error on their part could mean an irreversible environmental nightmare for the fragile Sydenham River ecosystem.