Simcoe County outlines new organics processing facility

By Cheryl Browne, Barrie Examiner

It isn’t easy being green.

But the lone protestor at the Simcoe County Museum railing at the county’s choice of placement for its new Organics Processing Facility (OPF) and Materials Management Facility (MMF) didn’t mind.

“I live on Horseshoe Valley Road near the proposed site,” said Bob Wagner, a member of the Friends of Simcoe Forests, who believes the facilities don’t belong in an agricultural or forest setting.

“But it’s not about NIMBYism, (Not In My Backyard). Seven years ago I fought against Site 41 and that was 20 kilometres away.

“I just feel this is an inappropriate use of any forest.”

Inside the museum, planners were hosting one of two public-input forums into the design and development of the two new facilities, proposed to be built at 2976 Horseshoe Valley Rd. W., in Springwater.

The first drop-in ran between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and the second was scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday evening.

The facilities being planned are not landfill sites, but offer two services, one a recycling sorting depot – with waste being trucked away – and another site for green bin or organic processing, which will be performed on-site.

“Most of the push back is from near neighbours,” said Debbie Korolnek, Simcoe County’s general manager of engineering.

“And they have legitimate concerns about noise, dust, odours and what it would be like during construction,” she said.

Korolnek said they chose the Horseshoe Valley Rd., W., site – out of 502 proposed sites – after careful consultation with real estate specialists – concentrating their efforts away from sensitive ground-water regions, as well as looking at land already owned by the county. They also put a call out to willing sellers to see if there were other suitable sites to no avail, she said.

The Horseshoe Valley property has 207 acres, but the county is planning on using only 11 acres of that land, with a half-kilometre buffer between it and its neighbours.

Tuesday’s meeting was focusing on the survey county officials hope residents will take the time to fill-in, as well as to garner input on how they should begin the build process.

“The Material Management Facility is basically a transfer station. The trucks will drop their load, it will get sorted and then it goes back out. But today, it’s more about the Organics Processing Facility; do we operate it or do we hire someone to design, build and operate it?” she said.

Simcoe County currently hauls approximately 10,000 tonnes of green bin material to a facility in Hamilton each year. Its five-year contract will expire in 2018.

Leaf and yard waste is already processed at five local facilities, which manage more than 15,000 tonnes of material annually.

The design, build and operate option will also take into consideration if the composting will be performed using an aerobic method, where organic matter is decomposed using microorganisms and oxygen, or if it’s done by way of anaerobic digestion.

The latter is still done using microorganisms, however there is no oxygen generating methane gas, said Rob McCullough, director of solid waste management, at the museum meeting.

“If compost piles aren’t properly aerated, odours can happen. But if we carefully control the amount of oxygen that goes in, we can mitigate that,” McCullough said.

The county is hoping residents will complete the survey, join in the discussion and have their say about the new facilities.

As for Wagner, he plans on disputing the process right until the bitter end, he said.

“It’s on my bucket list, one of these days I’m going to be arrested for standing up to protect forests,” he said.

Feedback on the projects will be received until Oct. 4 and will be reported to county council for its information before a Request for Information from possible builders is released in November.