Sludge Watch ==> Kawartha Lakes sets precedent against sludge - Pelham dithers

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Kawartha Lakes isn't the only municipality to have successfully used a bylaw 
(ordinance in US language) to stop the dumping of paper sludge and/or paper 
sludge mixtures.  Several other jurisdictions have also successfully stopped 
sludge at the municipal level.

  The Province assembled and consulted scientific experts about what to do 
with paper sludge.
The Expert Panel  advised the province of Ontario to regulate the materials 
as a waste, and to require the sludge to be legally composted before it is 
allowed into the environment.

This government has utterly ignored the scientific advice, and has pushed to 
problem onto the backs of local governments who are now enacting bylaws to 
chase it the sludgey stuff out of their jurisdiction.

The Province should implement the Expert Panel recommendations and the 
municipalities should enact bylaws protecting their residents in the 
meanwhile.

............................................................


Precedent set in battle against sludge;
Kawartha Lakes' outright ban on use of waste paper sludge presents hope for 
Pelham residents

MATTHEW VAN DONGEN, St Catherine's Standard, Ontario, Canada

Friday, September 15, 2006 - 01:00

Local News - The Town of Pelham called the bylaw impossible to enforce.

The City of Kawartha Lakes recently did the impossible, however, banning 
waste paper sludge in any form from the central Ontario municipality.

Pelham council decided in July it didn't have jurisdiction to pass an 
interim control bylaw banning the use of paper-fibre biosolids in berms.

The decision disappointed residents angry at the unregulated dumping of 
20,000 tonnes of the recycled paper byproduct on a Fenwick property.

Two weeks ago, Kawartha Lakes cited resident safety in passing a bylaw 
forbidding any application of paper fibre biosolids, including as 
fertilizer, within municipal boundaries.

The municipality received legal advice suggesting the bylaw could withstand 
a challenge, planning director Richard Danziger said.

"We did it. It remains to be seen what the repercussions might be," Danziger 
said.

Danziger said councillors had received complaints about sludge-spreading on 
farms in the largely rural municipality west of Peterborough.

There are no sludge berms in Kawartha Lakes, but Danziger said councillors 
noted the problems in places like Pelham "and decided to be proactive."

Instead of targeting specific uses of the sludge, such as berms, councillors 
opted for an outright ban.

"Logistically, it was felt it would be much easier to do that," Danziger 
said.

Councillors are hoping their reasoning will be supported by past court 
decisions about municipal pesticide bans, Danziger said.

Pelham Coun. Uwe Brand agreed.

"If the courts accept a municipality's right to ban pesticides to protect 
the health of its citizens, the same argument could be made (for sludge)," 
said Brand, who tabled the failed Pelham bylaw in July.

Brand said he tried to revive the bylaw for reconsideration earlier this 
month, but was voted down.

Pelham chief administrative officer Anne Louise Heron and planning director 
Craig Larmour didn't return phone calls Thursday.

However, in July, Larmour told residents it is impossible to use an interim 
control bylaw to regulate paper-fibre biosolids because Pelham's zoning 
bylaw doesn't address berms.

Mayor Ron Leavens said at the time he supported the intent of the bylaw, but 
argued the town's only recourse is to pressure the province to regulate berm 
construction.

The mixture of paper sludge and sand in Pelham isn't regulated by the 
province because it's considered a product instead of a waste.

Leavens was on vacation and unavailable for comment Thursday.

The bylaw could have "a domino effect" on other municipal councils, said 
Randy Desnoyers, a spokesman for a group opposed to the berm.

Desnoyers said he's presenting the bylaw to West Lincoln council in October.

"This is another way to keep pressure up on the (provincial) government," he 
said. "I think other municipalities will jump on board."

The bylaw wasn't unanimously supported in Kawartha Lakes.

Mayor Barb Kelly voted against it, as did several other councillors, she 
said Thursday.

"I'm not sure how we can justify it to farmers," Kelly said.

The mayor said she doesn't want to see huge piles of the material dumped in 
her municipality, but she doesn't think all applications should be banned.

"I've heard opinions that it can be used safely as a nutrient soil 
supplement. I imagine we'll see some challenges."

mvandongen at stcatharinesstandard.ca