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

‘The Tribunal finds that the landfill either is currently producing or could in the future produce significant harm to the environment’ (Environmental Review Tribunal’s reason for granting appeal to citizens, 2012)

We need to protect our land and water.

This is the right time to show your support.

First Public Hearing:
Monday, June 25, 10:00 a.m.
Selby Hall, 114 Pleasant Dr., Selby Ontario

The volunteer organization (the CCCTE) has been growing in numbers and strength.  A dedicated group of talented people have rallied to this important cause.  If you care about the environment here is something that you can DO about it.

It is so great to be joined by the new, assertive and creative members. Many of us have been fighting the dump expansion for a decade or more.  When we go to meetings with the  Ministry of the Environment (MOE) or Waste Management we often know more about the file than anyone else in the room.

Since the end of 2006 when the Environment Minister denied the first expansion proposal, our main focus was on having the Richmond Dump ordered closed (which happened in 2011) and reviewing the monitoring plans after it closed.  Waste Management dragged it’s feet on closure by reducing the flow of garbage to a trickle and have put forward a deficient monitoring plan. In 2010 the MOE finally ordered closure. We have retained expert advice to make specific recommendations on how to improve the monitoring and these were ignored.

We have decided to use Ontario’s Environmental Review Tribunal to challenge this monitoring plan. You can read about the many concerns we have in documents posted here. The Tribunal has agreed with us that there is serious risk of harm to the environment and will hear the case in the Napanee Area. Hearings will be open to the public. The first public hearing is  scheduled for June 25 at 10:00am in the Selby Community Hall.

We also have to deal with a new proposal for a mega-dump at the same site. (Please read and sign our related petition.) Given the overwhelming scientific opinion that document the risks it is hard to believe they think they can get away with it.  A billion dollar business opportunity distorts the corporate mind. Waste Management is encouraging people to trade the long term health and reputation of Napanee for short term financial gains. In addition to the health risks, there is a real question about how these perceived financial gains will hold up. Will people and businesses still want to move here? Will real estate values keep pace?

Where is the MOE in all of this? Well we wonder the same thing.  The MOE scientists tell us they share our concerns about the risks and yet their management issued approval of the deficient monitoring plan. There is no question that the MOE staff are over worked.  We believe that our vigilance will lead the MOE to make the right decisions about the future of the Napanee dump. There are many people working hard to make that happen. Please join us by becoming a member of the CCCTE. Don’t take anything for granted.

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

Since June 2011, no waste has been accepted for disposal at the closed Richmond Landfill. However, the Ministry of the Environment recently amended the site’s licence under the Environmental Protection Act to impose obligations upon Waste Management related to environmental monitoring, contingency plans, and reporting in the post-closure period.

“My client’s position is that these new conditions are not sufficiently rigorous, and that more stringent safeguards should be included in the approval,” stated Richard Lindgren, an environmental lawyer who represents the CCCTE.

“From the public interest perspective, we believe that this massive landfill warrants careful monitoring and effective contingency plans in the event that remedial work may be required at the site,” said Mike Bosio, Chairperson of the CCCTE.  “In our view, the conditions imposed by the Ministry do not achieve this purpose.”

“The Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte are in support of this application to the Tribunal,” said Chief R. Donald Maracle of the MBQ. “We have always been concerned about off-site impacts since the surface water and groundwater at the landfill moves towards our community, and we want to see the strongest possible safeguards incorporated into the landfill’s licence.”

The CCCTE’s application was filed under Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights, and it is anticipated that the Tribunal may rule on the CCCTE application in March or April.  If leave to appeal is granted, then the Tribunal will hold public hearings and render a legally enforceable decision in relation to the conditions under appeal.

For more information, please contact:

Richard Lindgren (CELA) 613-385-1686

Mike Bosio (CCCTE) 613-396-6784

Chief R. Donald Maracle (MBQ) 613-396-3424

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