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News Release
For immediate release
November 16, 2006
NIAGARA WASTE SYSTEMS LANDFILL EXPANSION RECEIVES ENVIRONMENTAL APPROVAL
Will Take Industrial And Commercial Waste Under Strict Environmental Conditions
TORONTO – The proposed Niagara Waste Systems landfill expansion in Niagara Region has received environmental assessment approval, with conditions, Environment Minister Laurel Broten announced today.
“My priority is to protect Ontario’s environment and my goal is to ensure that any new proposal for a landfill in the province meets the strictest environmental rules,” Broten said. “To that end, I have imposed several conditions on the approval to ensure the Niagara Escarpment, the surrounding watershed and the region’s communities are protected.”
The landfill has been approved to take up to 850,000 tonnes of waste per year, which will help to address the demand for disposal capacity for the industrial, commercial and institution (IC&I) sectors. Approximately four million tonnes of IC&I waste goes to landfills in Ontario each year. About three-quarters of the waste received by private landfills comes from the IC&I sectors.
The site is also approved to accept municipal solid waste. Approximately 100,000 tonnes of the site’s approved capacity must be reserved annually for the Region’s municipal waste.
The environmental approval comes with the following conditions:
- The proponent must undertake a study to assess potential water quality changes to the Welland Canal, including mitigation measures. This study must be completed before the proponent can proceed to seek further technical approvals.
- A Ministry of the Environment inspector will be on-site to monitor the landfill operations. The inspector’s monitoring efforts will increase as the landfill becomes larger.
- The proponent must submit annual environmental assessment compliance reports to the ministry to demonstrate how it fulfilled its commitments to mitigation measures and conditions of approval.
- A public liaison committee, which has been in place since 1994, will continue to operate in order to provide a forum for the exchange of information about both the existing and the new landfill.
Before Niagara Waste Systems can proceed, the landfill proposal must be reviewed and approved by the ministry under the Environmental Protection Act and Ontario Water Resources Act.
“The proponent has done a good job of evaluating the scientific and technical matters surrounding the proposed site,” Broten said. “The current landfill is a well-run operation and we will ensure this expanded landfill operates in a safe and environmentally sound manner.”
The landfill, located near Niagara Falls on Thorold Townline Road, will be built on the site of Niagara Waste Systems Ltd.’s depleted south quarry next to its existing landfill, which has about three more years of capacity. The landfill will be constructed in four main stages, roughly of similar capacity and duration. Each stage will be rehabilitated with soil cover and vegetation as it reaches its capacity.
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John Steele, (416) 314-6666
Ministry of the Environment |
Anne O’Hagan, (416) 325-5809
Minister’s Office |
Contact information for the general public:
416-325-4000 or 1-800-565-4923/ www.ene.gov.on.ca |
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