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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1991-10-02, Page 2Page 2 Times -Advocate, October 2, 1991 VV E WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT BEFORE WE'RE BURIED IN OUR OWN GARBAGE? A disposable society. North Americans have got into the habit of using once and throwing away. As a result, our dumps have filled to capacity, forcing many to close and other municipalities to scramble to clean up their acts. In the past year the landfill near Lucan which serviced three municipalities was shut down. The dump for Grand Bend, now owned by Lambton. County, is nearly full to capacity and council members there are perplexed at where they will find the money to transport their garbage further south. While this may paint a dull picture, one dotted with question marks, there are many alternatives. The, most obvious being to recycle; the three R's, recycle, reuse and reduce are becoming common household words. • 2j BUT IS RECYCLING ENOUGH By Fred Groves - Tomorrow the Huron County Waste Management Master Plan will reveal to county council, proposed sites to locate a new county landfill site or sites. Co-ordinator Jo -Anne Richter said it is proposed that by 1997 all county municipalities will be using the county sites. "If things continue to go well, 1997 is the earliest you'll see a county site. We have some candidate sites and another phase of our master plan to do. We have a lot of work ahead of us; said Richter. Do one or two sites to service the waste produced by 60,000 people seem unrealistic? "There's no problem with that considering the size of Toronto. We're also incorporating waste diversion initiatives," said Richter. The biggest of those is recycling. 50 percent diverted: Richter said that the Ministry of the Environment predicts that by the year 2000, 50 percent of all waste will be diverted. "It's possible, but I don't know if it's possible in a ru- ral county like this." When Richter began her master plan in 1988, she compiled a list of the county's 17 existing landfills. The biggest of these is the Mid -Huron site in Holmes- ville. It serves eight municipalities. "They've been going through a lot of work lately. They recently received an exemption from the minis- try," said Richter. The exemption indicates they can operate despite the license saying there is only three legal users. "Their main problem was they had illegal users in that they weren't listed on the original certificate. The additional users are allowed to use it unci( the county has a site." Once the county does have its own site, all munici- palities will use it. Exeter reeve Bill Mickle does not want Exeter to be paying for the county site when the one in Exeter is still useable. He says the Exeter landfill could have as much as ten more years capacity. If that is the case, and the county site is ready before that, what happens to the rest of the space in the Exeter site. "It appears as though we've got six to ten years left," said Mickle. "The point I've been trying to make at county, is that we should use these landfill sites until they are no longer useable. "What happens to the old sites? I've even suggested that they should look at completing useable sites be- fore they spend a lot of money. If Exeter has a site that is capable of going beyond that, why should peo- ple of Exeter be forced into large bills of a central site?" He said the county should know how they are going to pay for the county sites before they begin to look for the actual location. Excitment: "If you can't settle the payment issue, you've stirred up a hell of a lot of excitement in identi- fying potential sites." Mickle noted that if there is just one or two sites in the county by 1997, municipalites will have to take their wate to transfer stations. "The region of Durham was required to put in a trans- fer station and the estimated cost was $10 million. To- day the cost is $50 million and they haven't even got a spade in the ground because of all changes in criteria in how it is to be built." Mickle is a member of the Ontario Small Urban Mu- nicipalities group Environment Minister Ruth Grier has told them 50 percent of waste will be diverted from the landfills by the year 2000. "That's her dream. The point is they haven't found a cost effective wayin daft. You can't continue to spend 50 million here and 50 million there." Exeter administrator Rick Hundy said the county should be looking at how and at what percentage the county plans to divert its waste. At a recent OSUM meeting, Mickle said Grier in- formed the group that by the end of this year there will be 70 or 80 sites in Ontario reaching their capacity. "Where is that stuff going to go?" questioned Mickle. He added that in order to open a new landfill, a munic- ipality must go through a master plan like the one Huron County is doing. Mickle said Peterborough has had to begin their plan all over again and with it comes all the additional costs. Stephen Township: Last Tuesday night in Crediton, residents of Stephen Township met with Richter, reeve Tom Tomes and engineers from B.M. Ross and Asso- ciates. The township landfill is very close to reaching capaci- ty, as are several others throughout the county. The en- gineers, along with a Public Advisory Committee are at- tempting to get a few more years out of their facility. Engineer Mau Pearson explained there are three op- tions: fund a new site, expand the existing one, or trans- port the waste to another landfill. B.M. Ross arc seeking exemption ''-om the Environ- mental Assessment Act for interim expansion of the site and are trying to obtain an Emergency Certificate of Ap- proval. Engineer Steve Burns said one plan at the Stephen site is to put waste over the areas where there is -already waste. He said the southwest corner of the landfill could go as high as 28 feet. Ground water affected: A full site is just one prob- lem in Stephen Township. The other is leachate control. Leachate is when the garbage filters down and affects the ground water. "It has affected lands about 100 yards into the prop- erty to the north and that's where the ground water t.as been affected by the landfill," said Burns. "Landfill sites have the greatest impact on ground water. There is a great investment in hydrogeological examination." Doing numerous and constant studies of leachate and its effects on ground water is one difference be- tween what is called a Landfill and what many of us re- fer to as a dump. Stephen Township resident, Bill Hodge a member of the advisory committee, said his group is trying to pro - mote diversions such as composters and recycling. "The object of our committee is to provide input on waste management. We've learned a lot since we've had three or four meetings. We've visited the site," Said Hodge. A reality residents of Stephen Township will to have to face is if they can not get an emergency certificate, they'll be forced to do what other municipalities have done across the province, transport their garbage. In Middlesex County, there are mixed emotions on the closing of the landfill which serviced Biddulph Township, Lucan and Parkhill. Local politic lana in those communities say they had -vry little waiving that the site, owned and operated by C.H. Lewis would shut down on a judge's order in May. Landfill for sale: Wednesday afternoon, Larry Lew- is of C.N. Lewis, told the Times -Advocate that the landfill was for sale. The property is 46 acres of which five have been used for waste disposal. Lewis said the site must be used fora landfill. Peter Nippa has a farm next to this landfill and his complaints were instrumental in closing the site in May. It has not reopened and some doubt if it will. Nippa claimed his farm lost its certificate to grow organic vegetables because of the landfill's poor han- dling of its waste. The court awarded Nippa $100,000. A citizens group in Lucan called CRAP (Citizens Reacting Against Pollution) was formed back in 1983. They got the landfill closed for a brief period in 1984. But an appeal saw it reopened. In May, Donna Wells who helped form CRAP, told the Times -Advocate that CRAP had become disillu- sioned with how government agencies work. "We always thought the ministry was like the police - someone's breaking into your house, you phone and they respond." And where does Lucan truck their waste today? it's hauled to the Ridge landfill near Blenheim in Kent County. With the recent closing of the St. Thom• as landfill, the Ridge now has as many as 65 garbage trucks per day dumping waste. The Ridge has a license for 240,000 tonnes yearly. It is estimated this site could be full in eight years. Lucan reeve Larry Hotson has shown his frustration over the closed Lewis owned facility on more than one occasion. "The pollution created by the trucks running up and down the highway is not good for the environment," said Hotson. He and his council have attempted to get help from their MPP Irene Mathyssen. "She's told us we have alternate sites," said Hotson. "It's scary, but with a little luck someone will figure h9_wto manage waste," he added. Hotson is also the clerk -treasurer of Biddulph town- ship so he has concerns about waste management in both communities. It will cost Biddulph $50,700 more per year to haul waste to the Ridge. Lucan's costs went up $37,200. Recycling: Without a doubt, one of the best ways to divert waste from going into the landfill is recycling. The bluebox is just an arm's length away in most kitch- ens. But the bluebox program is only one way to recy- cle. There are composters which are becoming a familiar sight in backyards. This apparatus breaks down food waste, one less bag of garbage per week to the landfill. Richter pointed out some interesting statistics on re- cycling. The separation method saves five to 15 percent with the bluebox and two to five percent with a depot. Composters can save as much as 15 percent in waste volume and reusing can save as much as 10 percent. County operated: The landfill in Grand Bend is now owned by Lambton County. That change of ownership has already woven beneficial. Mome..ts before village works superintendent Bud Markham was scheduled to meet with county represen- tatives at the site on Thursday, he said the site has about another eight months of use before it is filled to capacity. He explaiied the county brought in heavy equipment for four days in the spring which helped compact the Please turn to page 3