After a number open houses and a special workshop, officials with Waste Management have submitted a Terms of Reference document for an environmental assessment with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.

The submission is the next phase in the company’s plan to develop what it is called the Beechwood Road Environmental Centre (BREC) at the site of its current landfill.

Interested members of the public have until July 11 to make official comment on the document to the ministry.
“Terms of Reference is the start of the project where we explain to people exactly what the project is all about, and what our intent is and what we are going to look at as far as the proposal goes. What we had to do was have public meetings and a workshop where we get input back from the general public on what our proposal is, and what our plans are,” explained Randy Harris, manager of the BREC site.

“And we take those comments into consideration for the Terms of Reference, and this is the first part of the process where we are asking the Ministry of the Environment permission to do an environmental assessment on the landfill portion of the project.”

The Terms of Reference is required under the province’s Environmental Assessment Act. If the document is approved by the ministry, it will lead to the preparation of an environmental assessment.

The new landfill footpring, which is expected to have a capacity of 13 million cubic metres, is part of a larger waste management facility, which also includes a residential diversion component, materials recycling, organics processiong, construction and demolition and electronic waste handling facility, according to a Waste Management press release.

Harris said the company actually went beyond what they are mandated to do under the EAA, including all areas of the proposed BREC in the Terms of Reference.

“We have indicated to the ministry that we are going to look at all aspects of the project, what you would call cumulative effects – how all the other diversion components affect the project as a whole,” he said.

“There are people who are asking us to do an environmental assessment on every portion of it. That’s not required under the law, but we are going to take a good look at everything.”

Harris said that during the various open houses and workshop that preceeded the submission of the Terms of Reference, Waste Management actually received a fair amount of favourable commentary on the project.

“People think we have done a much better job this time than last time [earlier in the decade, the company tried to apply for an expansion to the current landfill, but was rejected by the ministry]. And people who were not supportive of mega-landfill last time, like this project much, much better,” Harris said, adding that the emphasis on diversion is one of the areas people are seeing as being a positive step.

“And because it’s a much smaller landfill – it’s half the size of what we’re proposing than it was before. And we have all these diversionary aspects and green jobs that are coming out of it. So a lot of people are excited about the job potential in town here, the economic benefits to Napanee and the surrounding area, and there’s going to be a lot of money spent on construction of this facility, like, in the tens of millions of dollars. So that’s an economic benefit to the town.”

Harris is also cognizant that there is still a significant amount of opposition to the proposed BREC.

“Some of those people have come out to the meetings. I think it’s fair to say, on the environmental assessment of the landfill portion, we’ve got to show people how we’re going to protect the groundwater. I believe, myself, that is the key. People are worried that the landfill could leak, and could contaminate the groundwater. Well, we’ve got it figured out, and we’ve tried to explain it to these people that the project would not be allowed to go ahead unless we could prove to the ministry that we can, and will, protect the groundwater. And we have every intention of doing that.

“And that’s where a majority of the opposition comes from. They have tried to lead people to believe that there’s no protection and we’re dumping garbage on top of rock, and it’s just going to leak. Well, that’s just absolutely ludicrous. We have to protect the groundwater. We will be spending tens of millions of dollars to do it.”

The actual Terms of Reference document can be downloaded at http://brec.wm.com.

Copies of the document are available at the Greater Napanee town hall, the County of Lennox & Addington on Thomas Street in Napanee, at the County of Hastings office in Belleville, Tyendinaga Township offices in Shannonville, the Napanee branch of the Lennox & Addington Public Library, the Deseronto Public Library, the Picton Branch of the Prince Edward County public library, and the Tyendinaga Township Public Library.

All comments on the Terms of Reference must be submitted, in writing, by July 11, and they need to be addressed to Alex Blasko, Project Manager, Ministry of the Environment, Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch, 2 St. Clair Ave. W. Floor 12A Toronto, ON, M4V 1L5. Or you can call 416-314-7232/1-800-461-6290, or fax comments to 416-314-7774.