Sludge Watch ==> Toronto Judge Refuses to Order Sludge to Michigan

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=comktNews&rpc=55&storyid=2006-08-04T195624Z_01_N04170587_RTRIDST_0_ENVIRONMENT-CANADA-SLUDGE.XML


Toronto judge refuses to order sludge to Michigan
Fri Aug 4, 2006 3:56 PM ET



By Lynne Olver

TORONTO, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Canada's largest city was under pressure to find 
new haulage contractors to handle municipally treated sewage after it lost a 
legal spat on Friday with a Florida-based waste-management company.

The city of Toronto sought a court order that would have forced subsidiaries 
of Republic Services Inc. <RSG.N> to keep hauling 12 truckloads a day of 
municipal sludge to Michigan for 90 days. That amounted to about 150,000 to 
160,000 tonnes a year.

But Ontario Superior Court Justice Katherine Swinton said on Friday there 
was no proof that Republic was obliged to take human waste, or "biosolids," 
under its existing garbage-disposal contract with the city.

Republic had warned municipal clients in June that it could no longer take 
sludge to the Carleton Farms site in sparsely populated Sumpter Township, 
Michigan, because it would run afoul of a state environmental order to stop 
hauling human waste there. Residents had complained about the stench.

A lawyer acting for the city said this week that the sludge might have to be 
dumped into Lake Ontario if no other place could be found, but that idea was 
quickly quashed by Mayor David Miller, who called it unacceptable.

"We're disappointed but we respect the decision," city spokesman Brad Ross 
said Friday after the court ruling.

The city doesn't face a smelly crisis, even though Toronto has storage space 
for only about five days' worth of sludge, he said. That is because 
officials signed two new contracts last week to have about half the sludge 
volume hauled to sites in Quebec and New York state, and is working with 
other contractors on potential deals, Ross said.

On sunny days, the city's biosolids can be hauled to farms in southwestern 
Ontario for use as fertilizer. And Toronto will try to accelerate the 
startup of a planned pelletizing plant, Ross said. This would convert wet 
waste into dry pellets for fertilizer use, but the plant is currently not 
due to start up until 2007.

Judge Swinton said she accepted that the Ontario environment could be harmed 
if short-term disposal sites are not found, but said the "extraordinary" 
order the city had sought was not appropriate in the contract dispute.

Republic Services should not be stuck in a position where it risks violating 
Michigan law by complying with an Ontario court order, Swinton wrote.

Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Republic was pleased with the court ruling, 
spokesman Will Flower said. "We're very impressed that a decision was this 
quick in coming on a very involved matter," he told Reuters.