Sludge Watch ==> Province Hedges on Paper Sludge Berm

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

The Sludge Tacklers of Pelham (STOP) have stopped calling this mountain of 
industrial waste a 'berm' anymore. They are calling it a dump.

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Province hedges on berm

ANGUS SCOTT

Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 09:00

Local News - A face-to-face meeting between officials from Niagara and 
Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten did not result in any firm 
commitment to deal with Pelham's massive paper fibre berm.

The meeting on Wednesday, which involved Pelham Mayor Ron Leavens, Port 
Colborne Mayor Ron Bodner and regional Chair Peter Partington, was 
"productive," said Leavens.

"(Broten) gave us hope the ministry would move on the expert panel report in 
the future, but there was no promise as to what would be done or when," said 
Leavens, in a phone interview.

The paper fibre berm is located on privately owned land at 325 Church St. 
The 20,000-tonne berm is made up of Sound-Sorb, a trademarked construction 
material composed of paper fibre biosolids and mineral soil.

It is meant to stop nearby train noise.

The biosolids are a waste byproduct of paper recycling at Abitibi 
Consolidated in Thorold.

Currently anyone can legally use Sound-Sorb for construction of a berm, 
without government approval or knowledge.

In January 2005, a provincially appointed expert panel on Sound-Sorb made 
several recommendations regarding the proper handling of the biosolid.

While the recommendations include allowing continued use of the material, 
the report also recommended that before a Sound-Sorb berm can be 
constructed, a hydrological assessment must be completed.

The same report also recommended that the dumping of Sound-Sorb should be 
regulated by certificates of approval from the environment ministry to 
protect human health and the environment.

Leavens said Broten tried to assure the Niagara representatives the ministry 
is not "dragging its feet," on the berm issue.

"Since it is happening in my municipality, I would have liked to have seen 
something done yesterday," said Leavens, expressing hope the expert panel 
recommendations will be implemented.

Leavens said the meeting with Broten was worthwhile and provided the Niagara 
representatives with some other avenues to pursue in helping the ministry 
resolve the Sound-Sorb issue, which is affecting other communities around 
Ontario.

Leavens said one avenue will be a meeting with Abitibi Consolidated, to be 
set up as soon as possible.

Earlier on the same day the Niagara delegation met with Broten, two local 
MPPs tried to provoke some action from Premier Dalton McGuinty's office.

Niagara Centre New Democrat Peter Kormos and Conservative Tim Hudak, with 
Pelham residents' spokesperson Randy Desnoyers, tried to present a 400-name 
petition against the berm at McGuinty's office.

While McGuinty wasn't at the office, the three waited outside for over half 
an hour, waiting for someone from McGuinty's staff to accept the petition, 
and the samples of sludge and effluent they had with them, said Kormos.

The three finally decided to leave the petition, the biosolid sludge and the 
water effluent at the premier's door. "We certainly got their attention," 
said Kormos.

The key to getting the province moving on the berm issue is the premier, 
said Kormos.

"If the premier wants something to happen, it will happen," he said, adding 
Broten is a relatively new minister, who is moving cautiously and is "more 
interested in hanging onto her job for the next 12 months than in taking 
risks."

Hudak said it's time the minister acted on the recommendations from the 
expert panel.

"If it is true the minister has been studying the expert panel report since 
January 2005, she must have it memorized by now," he said. "It's time for 
action."

Kormos said he and Hudak will continue to press the issue.

"Once the House resumes sitting, we'll bring it into the chamber if need 
be," he said. "If leaving sludge at the premier's door doesn't do the trick, 
maybe we'll have to leave it on the premier's desk."


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ST CATHERINES STANDARD

Officials buoyed by sludge meeting; Pelham mayor says province working 
toward 'putting controls' on use of material

MATTHEW VAN DONGEN

Thursday, August 03, 2006 - 01:00

Local News - He was given no promises. No timelines.

Definitely no moratorium.

But after meeting Ontario Environment Minister Laurel Broten Wednesday, 
Pelham Mayor Ron Leavens believes the province will stop the unregulated 
dumping of recycled paper sludge in communities like Pelham.

Eventually.

"We didn't come out with everything we wanted, but we did get assurances 
they're working toward putting controls on the use of the material," said 
Leavens.

"But she wouldn't commit to any timelines. We asked about timelines right up 
front."

Leavens, Port Colborne Mayor Ron Bodner and Regional Chairman Peter 
Partington met with the minister Wednesday afternoon in Toronto.

They talked with Broten for nearly an hour about sludge, the waste leftover 
from paper recycling at mills like Abitibi Consolidated in Thorold.

Most of the conversation was about Pelham, where 20,000 tonnes of paper 
sludge mixed with sand has been dumped in a berm on a Church Street 
property.

The mixture, dubbed Sound-Sorb, is considered a product by the ministry and 
therefore exempt from normal waste regulations.

What local officials asked for was a moratorium on sludge dumping.

They also asked Broten to implement the recommendations of a provincial 
expert panel, which called on the Environment Ministry last year to regulate 
Sound-Sorb and test water quality around berms like the one in Pelham.

A spokeswoman for Broten said the minister was too busy to talk to The 
Standard after Wednesday's meeting.

But all three local officials called the meeting positive.

"I think she definitely gets our concerns," said Bodner, whose municipality 
also hosts a Sound-Sorb berm.

"The good news is they've made it clear this is an issue they're working on 
seriously," Partington said.

"I think (regulation) is one of the things that will ultimately come out of 
this."

At the minister's suggestion, Partington said the Region will also try to 
set up a meeting with local mayors and Abitibi to look at possible solutions 
in the interim.

"Abitibi has always been a good corporate citizen," Partington said. 
"Hopefully, we can get together and work something out."

The vague assurances seem like little more than "smoke and mirrors," said 
Randy Desnoyers, spokesman for a Pelham group opposed to the berm.

"We need to keep the heat on the province," he said. "The people who dump 
this stuff pick on small communities because they know residents don't know 
how to deal with it.

"They know it doesn't attract a lot of attention."

Local opposition MPPs will keep attention on the sludge issue in Toronto, 
vowed Erie-Lincoln Conservative MPP Tim Hudak.

Hudak teamed up with Niagara Centre NDP MPP Peter Kormos and Desnoyers to 
hold a news conference on the issue at Queen's Park Wednesday.

Hudak called Leavens' meeting with the minister "valuable," but noted "it 
was a pity" Pelham residents weren't allowed to attend.

The trio's message was simple, he said.

"The government needs to halt the dumping in Pelham and other small 
communities and they need to act now to implement the expert panel's 
recommendations," Hudak said.

Kormos called Sound-Sorb "waste with toxic potential" and said the ministry 
is dragging its feet finding a solution.

"All the province has to do is implement the recommendations of its own 
expert panel," he said.

"That's all Pelham residents are asking them to do."

Desnoyers brought a 400-signature petition to give to Premier Dalton 
McGuinty.

No one in the premier's office came out to receive the petition, so the trio 
left it by the door, along with several jars of Sound-Sorb. mvandongen@ 
stcatharinesstandard.ca

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Niagara MPPs fight sludge dump


By Baha Abushaqra
The Hamilton Spectator(Aug 3, 2006)

Two MPPs and an activist from the Niagara region packed a jar with stinky 
sludge and attempted to deliver it to the premier's office yesterday.

Niagara Centre MPP Peter Kormos and Erie-Lincoln MPP Tim Hudak held a joint 
press conference at Queen's Park calling on Environment Minister Laurel 
Broten to act immediately to protect Pelham residents from paper-fibre 
sludge.

Joined by Pelham resident Randy Desnoyers, they then attempted to deliver a 
sample of the foul slurry to Premier Dalton McGuinty, along with a petition 
signed by 400 Pelham residents opposing sludge dumping in their town.

"There is something rotten in Niagara," said Kormos. "Residents there are 
being forced to live in the shadow of an ever-growing mountain of sludge."

Abitibi Consolidated, a paper mill in Thorold, has been dumping its 
recycled-paper waste, commercially known as Sound-Sorb, in Pelham. The 
sludge is composed of paper fibre biosolids (PFBs) and mineral soil. It is 
said to contain significant concentrations of acrylamide polymer, an animal 
carcinogen, and other contaminants.

The potential harm from the sludge was noted by a panel of experts from 
various disciplines commissioned by the Ministry of Environment in early 
2005. The panel ruled, however, there is no need to ban the use of PFB mixed 
with mineral soil (Sound-Sorb) for bulk use in berms or landscaping hills.

It recommended long-term monitoring of the groundwater and that PFB be 
composted before use in berms. It also recommended that use of the sludge be 
subject to ministry approval.

At least 20,000 tonnes of Sound-Sorb has been placed in Pelham, the St. 
Catharines Standard reported recently.

The Sound-Sorb berm at 325 Church Street in the hamlet of Fenwick is a major 
source of contention. It is between a greenhouse operation and a rail line, 
across the road from a residential area. Desnoyers said using the sludge as 
a sound berm is a roundabout way to dump waste with impunity.

In December 2004, Ontario Disposal, an Oshawa company that placed 70,000 
tonnes of the sludge beside Fletcher Creek, was fined $10,000, the maximum 
fine, for violating fill regulations of the Hamilton Conservation Authority.

Desnoyers said the problem is provincewide but rural communities are the 
usual target. Abitibi began dumping its waste in Pelham in April, he said.

Mark Rabbior, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Environment, said the 
sludge is not regulated as waste and the panel's recommendations are still 
under consideration by the ministry. The expert panel, he added, said the 
use of the material could continue.

The ministry inspected the Church Street location and issued an order for 
the site owner to take several steps to restore the natural environment, 
Rabbior said. They include an order to the site owner to hire a professional 
to evaluate the berm's impact on the environment and report it to the 
ministry to ensure any contamination is remediated.

babushaqra at thespec.com




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