Trash Talk

Wednesday, 23 October 2013 10:39

A big meeting tonight at County Council with the Walker landfill proposal front and centre

Oxford County Council can expect a rare crowd at their meeting tonight.

A push is on for the public to turn out at the meeting to support a key motion on the Walker Landfill proposal.

Ingersoll Mayor Ted Comiskey's motion to ban new landfill sites that accept garbage from outside of Oxford County is up for discussion. If approved, the motion would be at the very least another barrier for Walker to overcome. It would force the company to appeal the County's Official Plan amendment to the Ontario Municipal Board.

Also up for County discussion tonight, the Peer Review Team report on Walker's Terms of Reference. It's a comprehensive 205 page report, written by 15 technical experts in the field of environmental assessment.

Team Leader Chris Haussmann tells Heart FM one of the main considerations they're asking for. "They (Walker) deferred a lot of the detail work on the work plans until later in the Environmental Assessment, and that's fine, provided the Peer Review Team and the Ministry gets an opportunity to make input to those work plans and approve those work plans before they're implemented."

The other key consideration the Review Team is calling for deals with the facility itself, as Haussmann says Walker to this point has not included plans for waste diversion at their proposed dump. "It would be unusual if you had a landfill site like that without some composting and recycling facilities associated with it. We're recommending Walker at least include those two ancillary facilities, and a description of those so that the cumulative effect of the landfill site plus those facilities can be properly assessed."

The Peer Review report has already been endorsed by Zorra, South-West Oxford and Ingersoll Councils. It will be attached to each of the council's reports and submitted to the Ministry of Environment. The deadline for submissions on the Terms of Reference is October 30th.

Haussmann explains what happens once their report, and public comments are submitted to the Ministry. "Next steps are really in Walker's court. Assuming they receive approval of the Terms of Reference, and the Ministry may in fact alter them somewhat before approving it. Then, Walker will proceed with finalizing the work plans in greater detail and that will be our next involvement."

Tonight's County Council meeting starts at 7PM at the County Admin Building on Reeve St. in Woodstock.