Waste management plans stink, say residents

By Richard Blanchard Innisfil Scope February 10 2010
It appears that Simcoe County’s creation of a new solid waste management policy is going to be an arduous process if Monday night’s first public consultation at the Nottawasaga Inn is any indication.
The public information section of meeting, the first of three planned for this week across the county, was dominated with questions about the the process of the ongoing waste management study, with much less emphasis from the public on their choice of future diversion and disposal options. The solid waste management study was set-up in the wake of the cancellation of the Site 41 landfill site last summer, and the opponents of the project seemed to makeup the majority of the nearly 60 members of the audience.
Questioning began with Katie Austin of Zero Waste, who asked why members from the standing committee, county council and the local municipalities were not in attendance.
Other questions followed about the lack of advertising for the meetings, the decision to hold only three public information sessions and limiting public input.
Environmental services manager Rob McCullough said the county had advertised widely in the short time frame that had been set for the public meetings.
“We have tried to create publicity for this event in as many ways as is possible,” he said.
Another part of the meeting dealt with a debate over the number of certificates of approval which were still in force at the New Tecumseth waste transfer station, which is used five days per year for household hazardous waste collection.
There was a handful of speakers who suggested specific alternatives to improve the collection and diversion of waste by the county.
Floyd Pinto of Adjala- Tosorontio told the audience that the county should consider establishing diversion days across all of its municipalities, similar to the ones that have been held in Adjala-Tosorontio for the past decade.
“I know in my own case that it has saved my family money and reduced the amount of waste going to the landfill,” he said.
Pinto also suggested that the county look at ending the practice of allowing resident to purchase tags, which gives them an opportunity to throw away more than one bag per week.
“We don’t allow that in Adjala-Tosorontio and it should be considered countywide as a way of reducing waste,” he said.
Pinto also suggested that more emphasis be placed on getting manufacturers to reduce packaging, which ends up in the trash.
Helga Elie of New Tecumseth said that she thought the county had made no progress in dealing with waste over the past 20 years.
“The comments heard tonight are all the same that we heard at a meeting in Beeton 20 years ago,” she said.
The county should consider incineration as the best means of dealing with its waste, she said.
“It’s widely used in Europe. My sister’s home is heated with the heat from the local incinerator. We’re at least 20 years behind Europe in this example,” she said.
Barb Baguley of Innisfil said she hoped that the proposed strategy would not have a bias towards incineration.
She noted the widespread opposition to a proposed incinerator in Thornton in 1999, which was eventually rejected.
“I have a concern about a bias in the working documents which might point us towards incineration. We’ve been there and done that before,” she said.
Warden Cal Patterson said the tone of the meeting showed the mistrust over the county’s handling of Site 41 was still present.
“That elephant is still in the room,” he said. “I know that we as a county are going to have to overcome it.’
Adjala-Tosorontio deputy mayor Doug Little, who chairs the county’s corporate services committee which oversees environmental services, said he was disappointed by the negativity of the meeting.
“There was too much of it when we as a county have to move ahead on handling waste in a different way,” he said. “We just have move ahead.”
Another public information session on diversion and disposal options was held in Wasaga Beach on Tuesday night, and the final one is scheduled tonight at the North Simcoe Sports and Recreation Complex in Midland, between 4:30 and 8 p.m.