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Environment
How can we do a better job of choosing landfill sites?
Previous environmental disasters have eroded confidence in the system and assurances from government don’t cut it any more
by MURRAY BLACKIE
During a trip this summer to Argentina, I was reminded that we are lucky to have set a high priority on waste management and disposal here in Ontario. We are able to address environmental concerns in selecting and operating our disposal sites, and maintain recycling and related programs in our efforts to reduce our high per capita waste generation.
Argentina and other Latin American counties are faced with inadequate waste disposal and the general lack of municipal recycling programs. Recycling ends up as a money-making activity carried out by the local poor and managed by organized crime. Burning of waste, excessive litter and significant water quality issues are common.
While these are not problems we face, we still expect that our disposal sites will be selected and operated in a manner which will protect our health and our environment.
Why do people and communities challenge landfill site selections? Do they have actual concerns about specific environmental issues or is it just the general not-in-my-backyard syndrome. It may be easy to say that the government will protect the community from the harmful effects of a waste disposal site through adequate environmental review, appropriate approval requirements and surveillance. But we know that this just does not cut it anymore and has not for a long time.
People and groups raise concerns important to them and, if these are not adequately addressed in a timely way, they may see the government as being overly paternalistic or cavalier in its response.
Some residents have waged a high-profile battle against a proposed 20.7 hectare landfill site in Simcoe County since the 1980s. In the specific case of Site 41 concerns have focused on water quality and quantity issues and the need for engineered responses to the site’s potential environmental inadequacies
The following are some points of concern:
- In order to develop the site, it must be dewatered. Opponents insist this will waste water.
- To contain leachate produced at the site, groundwater below the site must maintain an adequate upward pressure.
- Will the need to maintain upward gradient affect the livelihood of those in the area who require water for purposes such as irrigation?
- The nearby Pauze Landfill, had been rejected for expansion because it was apparently contaminating groundwater, which tends to support concerns about Site 41.
- Groundwater in the area seems to be of pristine quality, increasing concerns about future contamination.
- In 2003, a technical peer review of previous engineering studies confirmed concerns about the sensitive nature of the site.
- A review of the Certificate of Approval was requested under the Environmental Bill of Rights but was not granted by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE), which felt that the review would be redundant in light of their existing review process.
- There were concerns that the new Clean Water Act (Source Protection) represented a new and broader watershed management framework not being adequately served by the present MOE review process.
Assuming that a landfill approach is the most desirable or acceptable disposal alternative, can we find the right location in every municipality? Ideally, one would want a site with all the natural attributes for containing the waste and avoiding hydro-geological and hydrological impacts, which is available and accessible as well as being isolated from human settlement, thus avoiding any land-use conflicts.
Realizing that it is difficult to achieve this ideal, we settle for good choices and rely on remedial measures to make a site more acceptable. Unfortunately, previous environmental disasters ranging from Love Canal to Walkerton have eroded confidence in the system.
We should always strive for that optimum reliance on comprehensive pro-active tools such as assessment, reviews and approvals. It is better to prevent environmental problems by proper assessment and approvals in advance than try to enforce the regulations after they have happened. BF
Murray Blackie is the former agricultural specialist with the Ministry of the Environment and is now a consultant, expert witness and writer on agro-environmental issues.
© copyright 2006 AgMedia Inc..
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