Province OKs new Ottawa-area dump

A community group fighting to stop a new waste facility from opening in rural east Ottawa is stunned that Ontario Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has approved the project.

“I’m disappointed in our government, very much so,” Lucie Régimbald said Monday as word circulated that the province had signed off on the Capital Region Resource Recovery Centre (CRRC) to be built by Taggart Miller Environmental Services.

Régimbald, a member of the Capital Region Citizens Coalition for the Protection of the Environment, said the group had high hopes Environment Minister Glen Murray would block the waste facility from being established on a parcel of land south of Highway 417 and east of Boundary Road.

“We really did, especially now since Minister Murray claims to be the champion of the environment,” Régimbald said.

In Murray’s reasons for approving the project, he said the project had complied with legal requirements for an environmental assessment. Taggart Miller’s conclusion that “the advantages of this undertaking outweigh its disadvantages appears to be valid,” according to the minister’s notice of approval. “The proponent has demonstrated that the environmental effects of the undertaking can be appropriately prevented, changed, mitigated or remedied,” the notice said.

The City of Ottawa is powerless in the approval process since the facility will serve the industrial, commercial and institutional sector. The city is only in charge of residential waste.

The city did, however, send comments to the ministry on the CRRC application regarding odour control, leachate treatment and coverage areas.

Opponents are concerned about the amount of truck traffic carrying waste to and from the site, the potential effects on well water and the smell of garbage.

The project goes back seven years, when Taggart Miller zeroed in on the Ottawa property after considering another piece of land in the north part of Russell Township. The Ottawa property would eventually become the proposed site for the dump and recycling operation.

In its environmental assessment, Taggart Miller assumed the site would operate at a maximum waste capacity of 450,000 tonnes annually. Taggart Miller also predicted a waste-diversion rate of between 43 and 57 per cent over 30 years. The rest of the garbage would go into a landfill.

Taggart Miller is required to establish a community liaison committee and to invite interested residents from Russell Township.

In a statement issued on Monday evening, the waste management company said: “Taggart Miller Environmental Services are very pleased to have reached this important milestone. The Capital Region Resource Recovery Facility will bring new and innovative commercial waste management programs and technologies to the Capital Region. We still have much to do to make our vision for this leading edge sustainability project a reality. We are committed to working in consultation with all of our stakeholders as we move forward.”

While the city couldn’t do much to stop the project, it provided up to $50,000 to community groups to hire experts during the environmental assessment process.

Régimbald is particularly disappointed that the province won’t hold a hearing on the application.

“We don’t even have a chance to have our expert demonstrate our own point of view,” Régimbald said.

The community group has a lawyer reviewing its options, she said.