We are fortunate to live in a province that offers citizens the right to request leave to appeal the actions of large corporations that impact the environment and the lack of action by the Ministry of the Environment to the Environmental Review Tribunal.

By taking Waste Management and the MOE to the Tribunal your Concerned Citizens Committee has accomplished the following:

- Scientific proof that the Richmond Landfill has been leaking offsite
- Agreement that Groundwater and local wells are impacted
- No one knows how far the leak is going and where it will stop
- Agreement that it is very difficult to monitor and contain leaks at this site
- A new mandatory Public Notification Plan that will require Waste Management
- to inform the public of any occurrence that might impact the environment
- notification must include posting on the internet
- all stakeholders must be notified
- A new Odour Management Protocol
- Pre-scheduled surveys to monitor odour conditions
- Local citizens must be involved
- Logs will be maintained
- When defined limits are exceeded mandatory action is required
- A formal complaint questionnaire must be completed
- A defined work program that WM must complete
- Expanded monitoring parameters
- investigate the extent of the leaks
- WM must bring the landfill into compliance with its license

Given all of the above it is my opinion that there is no way that the MOE could approve the request from Waste Management to build a 400,000 tonnes/year dump right beside the contaminating Richmond Landfill.

I am pleased to have been involved in the process that forced Waste Management to work together with us.

Tags: Environmental Review Tribunal, Leaking Dump, Leaking landfill, Napanee, Waste Management