South Frontenac Council - Sep. 28/10

Wilma Kenny | Sep 30, 2010

Portland Landfill Issues: Protecting Cameron Bog

Engineer Guy Laporte reported to Council that at the end of July, the Ministry of the Environment made an amendment to the Portland waste disposal site’s certificate of approval, reflecting their concern about the condition of the surface water at the site. This amendment requires the township to develop a more intensive monitoring program, and a contingency plan by September 30.

Guy Laporte reviewed the history of the 31.4 hectare site, purchased in 1968. Although the approved capacity of the site is large, unacceptable environmental impact can close a landfill.

The site has been described as “an island of waste,” with only a few hectares suitable for landfill. Present monitoring shows that no contaminants have reached the property boundaries. However, the MOE now states the surrounding wetland cannot be “used as a treatment area”: only monitoring of run-off from the slope of the waste hill will be considered relevant. (Groundwater is not an issue at this site: only surface water.)

Guy Laporte recommends that the indication of unacceptable contamination, or “trigger mechanism” should be a comparison of the upstream water with the surface run-off from the slope of the waste site: if a downstream toxin exceeds the upstream level in two confirmed consecutive samples, the township will have to undertake contingency measures. Depending on the specific contaminants, these could include partial or full closing of the waste disposal site, seeking approval of a ‘mixing zone’, or setting up a wetland treatment system. (The Township of Augusta is in the process of developing a wetland treatment.)

In order to defer a triggering event, Laporte recommended studying further options such as capping the 20% of the site that is already filled, to limit the amount of rain getting into the site. He and Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth agreed that their goal is to keep the site open as long as possible.

Councillor John Fillion asked whether the surrounding wetlands could be drained, but Laporte said there was over a thousand acres of relatively level swamp, so this would not be an option.

He will submit his report to the MOE by Thursday.

Snow Clearance at Fire Halls

At Councillor Hicks’ request, Fire Chief Rick Chesebrough presented Council with a detailed report of snow ploughing and sanding costs for the township’s nine fire halls. Hicks had expressed concern about apparent variations between the numbers of times the private contractors cleared the areas. After discussion of the varied nature of the sites, there was agreement by all but Hicks to leave management of this to the fire chief.

Library Project Update

CAO Orr reported that the library project was on budget and on time at this point, in spite of a discrepancy between the architect’s drawings and those of his engineer, which had led to a week’s slowdown in the erection of the framing. Other parts of the project, such as installation of the septic system, had been moved forward to make use of the apparent downtime. Councillor Robinson continued to express dissatisfaction with the progress of the project.

Hartington Carwash Buffering

Planner Lindsay Mills reported that the owners of the Hartington car wash were required, as a condition of being granted zoning approval, to create buffers on the north and west sides of the property. These buffers were to consist of low berms with trees on top of them. To date, this has not been done.

Mills said this was a legally binding agreement, and ought to be honoured. After some debate, Council agreed the work should be carried out.