There is evidence that leachate is migrating off-site from the Richmond Landfill Site and causing off-site groundwater impacts.

Due to the fractured limestone on which it is located, determining the extent of the leak, and containing the contamination, is extremely difficult.

Neighbours, including residents of: The Town of Greater Napanee, Tyendinaga Township, Deseronto, and the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, fear the impacts this will have on the aquifers that supply their drinking water.

In spite of this Waste Management is proposing to locate a new dump beside the old one that is four times its size (400,000 Tonnes/year). They have rebranded the dump as ‘The Beechwood Road Environmental Centre’.

Many volunteers have donated their time and expertise in this battle. We have a formidable legal team from the Canadian Environmental Law Association and we have retained the best technical experts to help us understand the complex scientific implications of this landfill.  This is an expensive fight.

With their help we have successfully appealed to the Environmental Review Tribunal to strengthen the scrutiny and management of the closed site.

You have the opportunity to help us. We are conducting a raffle to raise the money we need to pay for the experts.

To sell tickets please contact Cheryl Furlong at cherylfurlong07@aol.com

Click Here for details on where to Buy Your Ticket.

Mike Bossio

Chair, Concerned Citizens

Where does it go?

Who cares?

Once its out of sight, it’s out of mind. Besides, we pay waste management companies big bucks to safely dispose of this stuff.

So no worries, right?

Wrong.

The companies that manage our waste make a healthy profit. In fact, like other businesses, their primary function is to make money for the shareholders. For them, garbage is just a means to an end, and it’s safe disposal is often only a concern to the extent that they are held accountable under the law. Protecting the environment around their landfills can often be less of a priority than hiring the best lawyers and spin-doctors.

This appears to be the case in Napanee Ontario in Canada.

While all the legal obligations have been met so far, the potential for an environmental disaster is significant, and the ability to prove liability after the fact can be difficult. Once a water source is contaminated, it’s too late.

That’s why people who care about the environment and the health of those downstream are fighting an uphill battle to stop this damage before it starts.

That means hiring experts and lawyers to show how the fractured bedrock in the area will not hold back the tonnes of garbage juice gathering at the bottom of the pile. We do not have billions of dollars to spin the truth and fight in court.

What we do have is a group of dedicated but overworked volunteers working on a shoe string budget. Collectively we are the CCCTE (Concerned Citizens Committee of Tyendinaga and Environs) and this is only the beginning. It’s going to be a wild ride, so why not follow Us:

In January 2012, the Ministry of the Environment re-issued the site licence under the Environmental Protection Act to impose new conditions upon the landfill owner (Waste Management of Canada Corporation) in relation to environmental monitoring, contingency plans, and reporting at the now-closed landfill. The CCCTE then applied to the Tribunal for leave (permission) to appeal seven of these conditions on the grounds that they were inadequate to protect the environment.

In its decision (linked PDF file below) dated March 30, 2012, the Tribunal agreed with the CCCTE that the conditions appeared to be unreasonable and insufficiently protective of the environment:

“The Tribunal finds that it appears there is good reason to believe that no reasonable person, having regard to relevant law and government policies, could have made the decision to issue the Environmental Compliance Approval to Waste Management of Canada Corporation, and that it appears that the decision in respect of which an Appeal is sought could result in significant harm to the environment, within the meaning of section 41 of the Environmental Bill of Rights (p.19).”

In reaching this conclusion, the Tribunal relied upon the Ministry’s acknowledgement of “the potential that the landfill may be causing contamination of groundwater” (page 13). The Tribunal also relied upon the Ministry’s hydrogeologist who interpreted recent data as indicating that “apparent landfill-related groundwater impacts” exist to the north and south of the waste fill area, and that “leachate is potentially extending off-site to the south of the landfill property (p.11).”

The Tribunal further noted:

“The Director asserts that the Ministry has assumed a worst-case scenario and has therefore required Waste Management of Canada Corporation to supply neighbouring residents with an alternate supply of water. The Tribunal finds that provision of alternative sources of drinking water, while appropriate, does not mitigate environmental harm. It may alleviate the effects of ecosystem impacts upon local residents, but it does not remedy the occurrence or severity of those impacts upon ecosystems (p.15).”

The Tribunal’s decision therefore allows the CCCTE to file a Notice of Appeal against the Director’s decision within the next two weeks.

“My client is pleased that the Tribunal has granted leave to appeal in this case,” stated Richard Lindgren, an environmental lawyer who represents the CCCTE. “We look forward to participating in the Tribunal’s hearings in order to present my client’s groundwater, surface water, and air quality concerns.”

“In our view, the highest priority is to ensure robust monitoring and effective contingency plans at the closed Richmond Landfill,” said Mike Bossio, Chairperson of the CCCTE. “In these circumstances, our group believes that it is premature and unacceptable for Waste Management to proceed with an environmental assessment for another new mega-landfill immediately beside the Richmond Landfill.”

At this time, it is unknown when the Tribunal will hold the appeal hearing in 2012. Once the hearing has been completed, the Tribunal will render a legally enforceable decision in relation to the conditions under appeal. In this case, the Tribunal has the authority to alter or revoke the Director’s decision, or to issue an order directing the Director to take such action as the Tribunal may specify in relation to this matter.

For more information, please contact:

Richard Lindgren (CELA) 613-385-1686

Mike Bossio (CCCTE) 613-396-6784

  download full text of the ERT March 30, 2012 Decision

Media Release By: Canadian Environmental Law Association

- “There are potential groundwater quality problems evident on all sides of the Richmond Landfill, with anomalous water quality results at distances of up to hundreds of meters from the landfill” (page 4);

- “In my professional opinion, the most likely cause for many of the cases of anomalous water quality is leakage from the nearby Richmond Landfill” (page 18); and

- “Table 2a confirms that the landfill was certainly impacting surface water quality in 2006-2008… Iron and copper exceeded the [Provincial Water Quality Objectives] level in the 2006-2008 period, and in previous years as well. Un-ionized ammonia was over the PWQO limit in November 2006 and occasionally in prior years” (page 6).

“We are alarmed and shocked by Mr. Ruland’s findings, which substantiate our grave concerns about leachate leakage, detection and remediation at this vulnerable setting,” stated Mike Bossio, Chair of the Concerned Citizens – Tyendinaga & Environs (CCTE), which retained Mr. Ruland to conduct his independent review of recent WM documentation.

“Our clients are calling upon the Ministry of the Environment to immediately act upon Mr. Ruland’s 17 recommendations regarding the Richmond Landfill,” said Richard Lindgren, an environmental lawyer who represents the CCTE. “Moreover, it is our opinion that Mr. Ruland’s report raises serious questions about whether WM should be proceeding with its proposed Beechwood Road Environmental Centre landfill beside the existing Richmond Landfill.”

For more information, please contact:  

Richard Lindgren – CELA (613-385-1686)

Mike Bossio – CCCTE Chair (613-396-6784)

Related Information:

Nov 03 2008

Richmond Landfill: Chronology of Environmental Concerns

Media Release By: Canadian Environmental Law Association