Try Recycling: Water quality a concern

Residents ask that their expert be allowed to survey TRY Recycling site
By NATHAN TAYLOR, THE PACKET and TIMES September 4 2010
A group of concerned citizens wants a specialist to have access to the site of a proposed recycling operation in Oro-Medonte Township.
But township council has said it is TRY Recycling’s call.
The township has been working with the company, which recycles construction materials, with the hope of bringing it to Oro-Medonte. The site being considered for the operation is on Line 7, near Old Barrie Road, and it’s located on the Oro Moraine.
At a meeting Wednesday, council discussed a letter from Ken Howard, a groundwater consultant and professor with the University of Toronto, who has been retained by a group of residents concerned about the impact the recycling business would have on the moraine.
“Their concerns relate to the potential risk to water resources of the Oro Moraine, in general, and to well-water supplies more specifically,” Howard wrote in his letter. “To allow me to undertake this work, I am requesting access to all information relevant to the proposed activities at this site, together with permission to access the site to view and document existing geological and hydrogeological conditions.”
However, TRY Recycling is now the tenant on that site, as the township signed a lease to enable the company to undertake environmental testing. Therefore, it’s up to TRY Recycling.
“They are the ones who would have the yes or no say to have someone onsite while they’re testing,” Mayor Harry Hughes said.
In a motion passed Wednesday, the township asked TRY Recycling to consider letting that happen. The motion also said Howard’s request would be considered after the results of the testing come in. (The lease allows the township to discontinue its dealings with TRY Recycling if it is not satisfied with the test results.)
Ted Beaton, one of the residents wanting Howard to be granted access, raised concerns about the timing of the lease. The actual signing of the lease, he said, didn’t take place until after a request by resident Gord Roehner to have a specialist assess the site.
Council voted unanimously on June 9 in favour of authorizing the lease agreement, but the lease wasn’t actually signed until July 14 due to an amendment. Roehner’s request was on the agenda at the same meeting, and was dealt with before the amendment. However, council did not agree to Roehner’s request, as his letter didn’t specify who would be assessing the site.
It wasn’t until the township received Howard’s letter, written Aug. 16, that council learned more about the consultant.
But Beaton said fairness has been lacking in the process.
“If the council agrees to allowing the applicant to bring a hydrogeologist in, why not allow the electorate to have theirs come in?” he said. “Why not have two reports?”
TRY Recycling wouldn’t want that to happen before it did its own testing, the company’s CEO, Jim Graham, said.
“At this stage, it’s very preliminary in the whole process,” Graham said, noting the company hasn’t even begun testing yet. “Until we get further along, we’re not even starting our field work yet.”
The “main concern,” Graham said, is to determine whether there is existing contamination on the site from its past life as a gravel pit.
“I don’t think there are any issues on that site,” he said, but added he wants to be sure before the project proceeds.
The company recycles solid, non-hazardous material, and “there’s nothing that we would be bringing in that would cause any leachate or water (contamination).”
Also, the certificate of approval — which has not yet been granted by the Ministry of the Environment — would require ongoing testing and monitoring, Graham said.
Hughes said TRY Recycling’s test results would be subject to peer review.