Russell Township disappointed by Taggart Miller landfill project approval
The provincial government’s decision to approve a controversial industrial recycling/landfill project next door to Russell Township has left a literal bad taste in the mouths of township officials and others.
“I think this is another example of how local government and local opinions have no impact on what the (provincial) ministry decides,” said Mayor Pierre Leroux of Russell Township during a June 12 phone interview.
Mayor Leroux was commenting on the Ontario Ministry of Environment’s decision to approve Taggart Miller Environmental Services’ Capital Region Resource Recovery Facility (CRRRF) project. The decision was announced June 5.
The CRRRF, when completed, will be a recycling and landfill waste plant, taking industrial, commercial, construction and demolition waste trucked in from all across Ontario and other possible sources. The facility will be located near the intersection of Boundary Road and Highway 417, near the Village of Carlsbad Springs in Ottawa’s eastern rural fringe region.
The Carlsbad Springs site is adjacent to Russell Township and was one of two possible sites that Ottawa-based Taggart Miller considered for its CRRRF project. The other site was within the township north of the Village of Russell.
Since it was first proposed the CRRRF has been a focus of controversy with both Russell Township council and Stephen Blais, Ward 19 councillor for the City of Ottawa opposed to the project. Two community citizens groups, one based in Russell Township, the other in the Carlsbad Springs-Vars area, also lobbied the province against the project, citing concerns about possible leaching of contaminants into the groundwater table and other issues.
“As you can expect, we were devastated by the news,” said Harry Baker, spokesman for the Dump the Dump Now group in Russell Township. “I guess it (MoE decision) was kind of obvious in that the ministry’s review documents showed the ministry was siding with the proponent.”
Taggart Miller officials have stated that the target goal of the CRRRF is for 43 to 57 per cent diversion of materials brought in to the site during the 30-year operation life of the facility. The ministry’s approval of the project came with 15 conditions for the company to follow as part of its operation.
Those conditions include making sure all waste diversion facilities are up and running before accepting any waste shipments to the site, guaranteeing stormwater management systems are designed to deal with severe and sudden storm events, preparing dust management and odour abatement plans and also a plan for dealing with spills and other events that could allow leach waste to get into the surrounding soil.
The conditions also include a traffic study, with attention to any intersection improvements needed, a good-faith demonstration of compliance with provincial regulations with annual reports to the ministry, and a community liaison committee as part of a protocol for handling public complaints.
Baker stated that his group will seek membership on the community liaison committee. Mayor Leroux expressed skepticism about the community’s potential effectiveness.
“It’s an advisory committee (to the company),” he said, “so it has no teeth.”