Dear Minister Yurek, On…

Dear Minister Yurek,

On behalf of our community, we are writing to you regarding the Environmental Compliance Approval applications before your Ministry for 633 Coronation Drive.

In particular, we are writing to voice concerns related to the need for further public engagement on this file, for transportation impacts and plans to be considered as part of the Environmental Compliance Approval process, and the strong public opposition towards trucking of organic waste in this community.

Public Hearing

To date, there has been no public hearing for this application. Councillor McKelvie has advocated for a public hearing in letters to MPP Vijay Thanigasalam on April 3, 2020, and in comments to you and the MECP on May 19, 2020 and July 31, 2020.

Our understanding as well is that the local Member of Provincial Parliament, Vijay Thanigasalam, has also expressed support for a public meeting for the proposal for 633 Coronation Dr. (Adler, 2020 - Link 1).

We feel strongly that a public hearing should be held as soon as possible, and that it will provide an opportunity for local residents to learn about the project and voice their concerns. We are therefore requesting that you hold a public meeting about this ECA application.

Inclusion of Transportation Considerations

As outlined on the environmental registry, the proposal will allow for "1240 tonnes of nonhazardous waste and 1240 cubic metres of other liquid waste and the maximum on-site storage capacity is 4080 cubic metres per tonnes of other liquid waste/non-hazardous solid waste." (ERO, 0190-1444 - Link 2). We feel strongly that the volume of waste approved has implications on the number of trucks that drive through the residential area to access the facility. The proposal indicates that more than 100 trucks daily will be needed to transport organic waste to the facility for processing and subsequently, transport natural gas and digestate from the facility for distribution.

On June 29, 2020, City Council approved a motion to “request the City Manager write to the Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks requesting the Province to require 2683517 Ontario Inc. complete a traffic study as part of its Environmental Compliance Approval applications and request the Province to consider the results as part of the approvals process; and further request that the review of this traffic study be completed in co-ordination with City of Toronto Transportation Services staff.” (Toronto City Council, SC15.7, 2020 - Link 3)

We request that the Province work with the City of Toronto's Transportation Services to look at this project holistically and consider the impact of traffic on the local community. We feel it is important that the municipal and provincial governments work together to assess the environmental impacts of this project.

Summary of Public Opposition to Trucking of Organic Waste

We have heard concerns about the impacts of this project from residents of West Hill, Guildwood, Centennial, West Rouge and Highland Creek. Concerns relate to traffic, pollution, noise, and the proximity to homes. Over 200 constituents have reached out to Councillor McKelvie’s office in opposition to this proposal, and over 8,700 individuals have signed an online petition.

The City of Toronto has previously considered a similar proposal impacting the same community. In that case, an Environmental Assessment was conducted for the management of biosolids from the Highland Creek Wastewater Treatment facility, located close to the 633 Coronation property (Toronto City Council, PW11.4, 2016 - Link 4). Throughout the EA, the City engaged the community through a community liaison committee, briefings to local community organizations and public meetings. The options were incineration of biosolid organics on site or trucking of biosolid organics offsite for use as fertilizer. The community was adamantly opposed to the trucking of waste in the same neighbourhood as the 633 Coronation facility. As a result of this holistic EA that included environmental, technical, social, cost and transportation considerations, the preferred option selected was upgraded fluidized bed incinerators on site, instead of the trucking of organic waste through the same residential streets affected by the 633 proposal.

The proposal before you today requests that you allow a private company to truck in organic waste from unknown locations across the Province, which is in direct conflict with the residential makeup of the surrounding area. The City of Toronto listened to these residents during the municipal class EA for the Highland Creek Wastewater Treatment facility and we encourage you to do the same in this case.

We appreciate your consideration of these concerns, and on behalf of the community, hope you will include them as part of the ECA review and ultimately deny this application when a decision is required.

Sincerely,

John Tory
Mayor of Toronto
Mayor_Tory@toronto.ca
416-397-2489

And,

Jennifer McKelvie, Ph.D.
Councillor, Scarborough-Rouge Park
councillor_mckelvie@toronto.ca
416-338-3771