Sludge Watch ==> Judge Refuses to Budge on Sludge

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

August 5, 2006
National Post
Toronto



Judge refuses to budge on sludge: City loses legal bid

James Cowan, National Post


A judge yesterday rejected Toronto's bid to force a Michigan landfill 
operator to continue accepting the city's sew-age sludge for three months.

City lawyers this week argued Republic Services has a contractual obligation 
to handle Toronto's treated human sewage. But Madam Justice Katherine 
Swinton of the Ontario Superior Court ruled yesterday that no written 
agreement for processing of the sludge existed between the municipality and 
Republic Services.

"There is no documentary evidence that the respondents committed to accept 
the city's biosolids," her decision says.

Sludge from the city has been dumped at Carleton Farms, a landfill near 
Detroit, since 2001. However, Judge Swin-ton said the city's contract with 
Republic only deals with garbage from waste transfer stations and not sludge 
collected at water treatment stations.

Judge Swinton also cited discrepancies in the city's case. Lawyer Frank 
Newbould told the court waste might be dropped in Lake Ontario within five 
days if Republic Services did not continue processing it, but Mayor David 
Miller told reporters Toronto had at least six months to find a solution. 
According to Judge Swinton, the Mayor's statements "cast some doubt" on the 
city's warnings of immediate and "irreparable harm" to the environment.

Will Flower, a Republic spokesman, said Toronto was the only municipality 
that launched legal action when sludge was barred from Carleton Farms. The 
other cities that used the facility, such as Detroit, found alternative 
disposal sites.

"A city the size of Toronto must have a contingency plan to implement," he 
said. "It was our assumption that they would have done that two months ago, 
when we provided them with notice."
The judge concedes there is a risk of environmental damage if Toronto does 
not find new disposal sites, but she is unwilling to foist the sludge on 
U.S. residents. "The evidence is clear that there are ongoing and serious 
problems in Michigan because of offensive odour of biosolids," Judge Swinton 
writes.

Mr. Miller said Toronto does not face an imminent risk of enviromental 
catastrophe or the dumping of human waste in Ashbridges Bay. However, he 
also revised previous statements, saying that Toronto has four months -- 
rather than six -- to find an alternative dump site.
Mr. Miller noted a pair of deals has been signed to process 70,000 tonnes of 
sludge. Another will be announced soon.

"In the immediate future, we do have disposal capacity for the sewage 
sludge, but our staff will be continuing to work on contigency options," he 
said.

Under the deals signed last week, Toronto will send six or seven truckloads 
of sludge daily to GSI Environment fa-cilities in Quebec and New York while 
another two trucks will be handled by Ferti-val in Quebec. The pending third 
deal will address another truckload daily, leaving two to five truckloads 
daily without disposal sites. Most of that can be used for agricultural 
purposes in the short-term, he said.

jcowan at nationalpost.com