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UPDATE: 14 Experts Assembled for Landfill Peer Review Team

The assembled team that will be studying the issues surrounding the Walker Landfill Proposal has been released. The list includes 14 experts in their field, from traffic, to groundwater, to economics, the team of consultants will be meeting on a regular basis to share their findings on the impacts of a potential mega-landfill in the Beachville Quarry. The Peer Review Team will be headed up by Chris Haussmann, of Haussmann Consulting, who tells Heart FM, "Our report goes first to the municipal coordinating committee for their acceptance, and then it would go to Walker, but they would also be public documents." A website will also be established to keep the public up to date on developments from the Peer Review Team. But, the work of the Peer Review team won't be happening anytime soon, as they wait for Walker's reports on the specific issues. Once it's in the Review Team's hands, it should take 1 - 4 months for their report. Haussmann says, "Walker, in their material, have indicated they expect the process, not to be completed until somewhere around 2015." The OPAL Alliance (Oxford People Against the Landfill) are of course pouring over the names today. Spokesperson Steve McSwiggan, "I've heard of a couple of them, Mr. Haussmann and Mr. Dorfman I've heard of, came highly recommended, so I'm glad to see that. OPAL's people are pouring over the names right now to go over who they are, where they come from and see what their history is like." While McSwiggan isn't raising any red flags about the Peer Review Group as of yet, he says OPAL continues to question the transparency of the process. "Given the fact that it is paid for by Walker, the proponent. Based in the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) they do have to report back any findings to Walker. It gives Walker an opportunity to make comment on their review before it would even get to the public or Ministry themselves. That's our biggest concern." But when asked about the independence of the Peer Review, Chris Haussmann scoffed at the suggestion that the work will be anything but professional. "We, as independent Peer Review Team, have our own professional reputations to protect. We're not going to be doing things that are other than professional appropriate." Here's the full list of consultants: Discipline area Peer Review Team lead Peer Review Team Manager F. Chris Haussmann, Haussmann Consulting Inc. Economic and municipal finance Cameron N. Watson and Barbara L. O?Connor, Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. Environmental Assessment process David Walmsley, Morrison Hershfield Ltd. Public consultation process F. Chris Haussmann, Haussmann Consulting Inc. Legal Peter Pickfield, Garrod Pickfield LLP Social impacts David R. Hardy and Andrzej Schreyer, Hardy Stevenson and Associates Land use planning and site plan approval Mark L. Dorfman, Mark L. Dorfman Planner Inc. Visual impacts Mark Schollen, Schollen & Company Inc. Air quality and air emissions Antoon (Tony) van der Vooren, AMEC Noise and vibration John Emerson Coulter, J.E. Coulter Associates Limited Landfill design, geotechnical, surface water, landfill gas and gas utilization Wayne Cooley, CH2MHILL Canada Limited Groundwater impact William Blackport, Blackport & Associates Ecosystems, aquatic and terrestrial Brent Tegler and Mirek Sharp, North-South Environmental Inc., and Brian Fraser, EcoMetrix Incorporated Traffic impacts John Hemingway, Hatch Mott MacDonald Agriculture impacts David B. Hodgson, DBH Soil Services Inc.

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