Simcoe County councillors defer decisions on Site 41 issues

By Kate Harries WaterWatch
Simcoe County staff successfully deflected any action by members of the corporate services committee regarding several urgent Site 41 issues.
Oro-Medonte Deputy Mayor Ralph Hough had asked for the matter of “next steps” for Site 41 to be placed on the agenda.
“We still have to deal with the issue of the Certificate of Approval,” he told the committee.

(SDS41 supporters are urging county councillors to prove that they don’t intend to change their position on halting the dump by asking the Ontario Environment Ministry to revoke the C of A).
Hough also wanted to know why staff is “winterizing” the waste cell excavation at Site 41, instead of completely filling it in, and “at what point we can consider the site has been rehabilitated and decommissioned?”
CAO Mark Aitken intervened quickly, noting that the Site 41 Community Monitoring Committee had passed a resolution last Thursday. It urged that the excavation be completely restored using the original clay (Option 3 in a Sept. 9 report from environmental services director Rob McCullough), rather than filled halfway, using a large proportion of topsoil (the cheaper Option 2).
The CMC argued that short-term measures will be more expensive in the long run, and  refilling with clay right away will be more protective of the exceptionally clean underlying groundwater, which has tested as clean as 6,000-year-old ice cores.
Aitken told the committee of councillors that staff had prepared a report on the issue but too late to be included in their agenda. However, it could be produced as an on-desk item.

Tiny Township Deputy Mayor George Lawrence said any decision on the way in which the backfilling is done is time-sensitive. The county has an estimated 6 weeks to complete the work before winter closes in.
McCullough told the committee that as long as sufficient “ballast” is in the excavation to permit the dewatering pumps to be turned of, he believes the “depression” left in the half-filled hole can remain indefinitely.
Aitken argued strongly against removing the roads and berms and filling in the storm water management pond until a decision has been made on the final use of the Site 41 property. “Why would you go and remove all those things when you’re not sure if they have a use in the future?” he asked
“That was never my intention,” Adjala-Tosorontio Deputy Mayor Doug Little responded, “My intention was to fill in the hole.”
Aitken, supported by McCullough, questioned whether that would be possible, given the weather.
Little then backed off and proposed that the matter be dealt with at the committee’s November meeting. “I think we need (staff) reports here.”
Coucillors concurred, making it unlikely that the CMC’s recommendations.will be acted on.
Aitken set aside the staff report he had offered to bring forward as an on-desk item.
As for Hough’s questions about the C of A and decommissioning? They sort of got lost in the shuffle.
“This is the kind of behaviour that led to the blockade,” commented Vicki Monague, one of a dozen SDS41 supporters who watched the proceedings. “They’re ignoring the people.”
“They didn’t even allow the CMC resolution to be read,” complained CMC member Anne Ritchie-Nahuis. “We want the remediation to be done in a correct and proper fashion, with concern for the cost and the environmental impact.”
Supporters should urge their county councillors to ensure that the site is restored so that the quality of the water improves, she said, noting that this summer, while dump construction and dewatering was in full swing, marked the first time that the nearby Parnell flow had silted up.