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Critic believes Site 41 door still open

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In Simcoe County
Jan 21st, 2010
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By Laurie Watt Midland Mirror
BARRIE – A “key messages” guide that touts Site 41 as “superior to all other sites considered” shows Simcoe County still believes the site would make a good landfill, says a longtime anti-dump activist.
Stephen Ogden – who has served as a member and an alternate member of the Site 41 community monitoring committee – is fighting for the release of specialized hydrogeological data, known as a calibrated ModFlow model. He has obtained an Information and Privacy Commissioner order to have the county release 20 years of groundwater flow data.
Simcoe County has refused, saying it does not own the information. The county has sought a judicial review of the latest order instructing it to take all necessary steps – including legal action against its consultant – to obtain the model.
Now, Ogden says he has proof the county has ulterior motives to keep the certificate of approval for Site 41.
As part of a $250,000 contract with Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, the county issued a media-relations guide. Released at a daylong seminar Dec. 15, half of the guide focuses on Site 41.
“It’s like a marketing tool the county has produced to show how great (Site 41) is, even though the county says they will never build a landfill site here,” Ogden said as he highlighted key statements about how the certificate of approval and the zoning increase the value of the land.
He noted the guide is a smoking gun strongly suggesting the county remains open to a landfill at the Tiny Township Concession 2 site.
“It was like a gift from the sky,” he said.
The county’s environmental services director, however, says the guide summarizes responses to the most common questions he and his staff received from the public and the media.
“It’s just what it is. It’s the key messages, answer to questions people keep asking,” said Rob McCullough. “It’s clarification for those who might speak to the public.”
Highlighted at last week’s CMC meeting, the document outlines Site 41’s attributes as a landfill site, as well as the county’s plans to winterize the site and to proceed with a waste management strategy.
It also notes the county “made a positive decision in retaining the certificate of approval.”
In background for discussing Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop’s private members’ bill to stop the landfill site, the guide says retaining the certificate “is the only way to truly ensure the county’s direction is maintained.”
Ogden said any mention of a “direction” is inappropriate, especially since the county has not yet concluded its waste management strategic plan.
“This is an inappropriate document and should have been sent to the CMC immediately. This is all about Site 41,” he said. “There is a lot going on in the County of Simcoe, ongoing things that are part of a plan.”
The guide also asserts that hydrogeological data over a 20-year period shows the site to be “superior to all other sites considered for the North Simcoe area.”
The document further notes the certificate of approval “confirmed the sound science behind the landfill, deemed it to be environmentally responsible, and in partnership with zoning bylaws, it has the net effect of increasing the value of the land.”

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