Walker Environmental Group Set to Resume Public Consultations

Wednesday, 3 June 2020 12:25

Walker Environmental Group has restarted the public consultation process for a proposed landfill in Zorra Township. The first Open House will be done online on June 17th.

ZORRA TOWNSHIP - Walker Environmental Group is going to start resuming community consultations to gather input on its draft Environmental Assessment Report for the Proposed Southwestern Landfill in the Township of Zorra.

The consultation period will reopen from June 3rd to August 28th. They will moving things online and the public will be invited to participate in several virtual events.

Walker released their draft EA on March 2nd and public consultations opened that month. However they were forced to put things on hold because of the pandemic and had to cancel all of their open houses. Project Director Darren Fry says they are now ready to start the public consultation process again.

“It’s appropriate to restart public consultations after a two-month pause, now that Ontario is in Stage One of its reopening process. It’s important to keep this project moving, given that waste management is an essential service and Ontario has a significant landfill capacity deficit.”

The first Open House will be done online on June 17th at 6 p.m. The web conference will allow participants to hear about the findings of technical studies in the draft EA, provide input on the proposal and have questions answered by Walker representatives.

You can submit questions in advance at info@walkerea.com. Residents can also provide feedback or ask questions during a live chat feature during the session. You can register for the first virtual Open House online here.

The draft EA report is a compilation of all of the scientific research and community engagement that has been completed over the past eight years to help the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks assess the merits of the proposal. You can read the report online here.

In addition to the online open house, community members are encouraged to provide input in a number of ways:

- Contact Walker’s Ingersoll office at info@walkerea.com or by phone 1 (855) 392-5537 to speak with a Walker representative.

- Schedule an appointment with a Walker representative to discuss the draft EA.

- Submit comments or questions through info@walkerea.com.

- Subscribe to Walker’s Southwestern Landfill project website here or follow it on Facebook here to be notified of future public events.

Details of further community engagement opportunities over the summer will be posted closer to the event dates at walkerea.com.

Walker will review the public’s input and then submit a final EA report to the Ministry for its review and decision.

Several groups in the community have been strongly opposed to the proposed landfill including the Town of Ingersoll and their Mayor Ted Comiskey. The Oxford People Against Landfills is a group that was created with the purpose of blocking this landfill from coming to Oxford County.

MPP Ernie Hardeman has also stated that municipalities should have the final say on whether or not they host landfills. Even the Premier weighed in during a visit to Oxford County last year. You can read his quotes online here, where he stated that municipalities should absolutely have the final say on whether or not landfills can come into the area.