• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

AWARE Essa calls on County Council to reconsider forest location for waste facility

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In Council Watch
Sep 9th, 2016
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Simcoe County forest

Letter to Simcoe County from Anne Learn Sharpe on behalf of AWARE Essa August 8 2016

To Warden Marshall, Deputy Warden Dowdall and Members of Council (response posted below)

Re: Proposed Waste Management Infrastructure Project 2976 Horseshoe Valley Road West

AWARE Essa supports Simcoe County Council’s plan to build Organics Processing and Materials Management facilities here in the county. Processing organic waste locally has far-reaching economic and environmental benefits. Unfortunately the decision to locate the facilities within one of Simcoe County’s forests is completely counterproductive.

GHD consultants used an evaluation process based on site comparisons. Five of the seven potential sites on the short list are forest tracts, which leads us to believe that the services provided by forests are highly underrated in the comparison criteria. The value of a forest tract such as Freele increases as climate change advances. The forest provides: wildlife habitat and corridors for the movement of wildlife; mitigation of flooding, erosion, drought, extreme weather events; filtration of water and air; carbon capture and storage. Dollar values can be assigned to the green infrastructure benefits of forests, and these should have been calculated and added to the costs of using a forested site.

Not only the area occupied by the facility will be impacted, but also the area of forest interior will be greatly reduced as dry, windy conditions, predators and invasive species penetrate the forest. The OPF and MMF will have a limited lifespan as technology in waste processing improves. But the damage done to the forest ecosystem will be permanent.

The site chosen is in an agricultural area, and increased noise, dust, traffic will impair productivity. Nicholyn Farms, a sustainable farm business and winner of several Simcoe County Food and Agriculture Charter Awards, is located next to the site and will be particularly vulnerable.

As taxpayers we appreciate the county’s concern for costs. But we believe the long-term losses that come with this site have not been considered and outweigh any short-term savings in property costs. Tree planting is always beneficial, but it would be inadequate compensation when it takes decades for the trees that survive to reach maturity.

Simcoe County has a proud history of forestry. In the last century, foresters and politicians working together planted the trees that have become Simcoe County forests and began a conservation movement that reversed the desertification of parts of Ontario. The threat of the present century is climate change and its effects are global. This is no time to become complacent about the value of our hard-won forests.

We ask that Simcoe County Council reconsider the choice of site for the OPF and MMF and exclude Simcoe County forests as potential locations for any industrial activity on a permanent basis. As county residents we would like to be able to celebrate unequivocally the long-term environmental benefits of this waste management project.

Response from Warden Gerry Marshall: simcoe-cty-waste

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