Walker Environmental Group Puts Environmental Assessment on Hold

Friday, 9 July 2021 11:47

Ingersoll Mayor Ted Comiskey is smiling from ear to ear today after 9 long years, it appears they have won the battle against the proposed Southwestern Landfill.

ZORRA TOWNSHIP/INGERSOLL/SOUTH-WEST OXFORD - Walker Environmental Group has sent a letter to local municipalities indicating they are putting the Southwestern Landfill Environmental Assessment on hold.

The decision comes after the Township of Zorra passed a motion on Wednesday, saying they would not be a willing host for the landfill. The Town of Ingersoll, Township of South-West Oxford and Oxford County are expected to pass similar motions next week.

Ingersoll Mayor Ted Comiskey is smiling from ear to ear today. He says when he first heard Walkers plan to put a landfill 800 metres from a subdivision in Ingersoll, his jaw dropped, and it hasn't come back up until today. Comiskey toured Ontario, looking for support for his motion to give municipalities a say in having a proposed landfill. Despite critics, who told him, it was a fools errand, he got over 150 municipalities to support that motion and last year, the Province announced Bill 197 which allows municipalities a say on where landfill should be located within a 3.5 km radius. The proposed Walker site is in Zorra Township, but within 3.5 km of both Ingersoll and SWOX.

The Town of Ingersoll has spent over a million dollars in the battle against this proposed landfill. You can listen to the complete interview with Ted Comiskey below where he discusses the following:

- What this means to have four municipalities saying no to the proposed landfill, when they only required one.

- The journey he went on in his battle to get this legislation changed, to allow municipalities the right to have a say on where a landfill is location.

- What it meant for a Mayor of small town to make a big change.

- Just how happy he is today.

Check it out below, it is worth the listen after 9 years in the making: