Sludge Watch ==> What is so 'hush-hush' about Toronto's new London area landfill?

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Toronto Works staff, not known for being candid with their politician 
employers, are party to some secrecy about Toronto's newly purchased 
landfill near London Ontario.  We already know that First Nations native 
groups in the area have demanded a consultation about the site, as is their 
right.  But why were City politicians turned away at the gate when they went 
to visit?

Something smells, and the trucks haven't even started bringing sludge.

We know Toronto already spent first $23 Million and then $30 Milliion to 
turn a bit of Toronto sewage sludge into 'fertilizer' pellets that were 
illegal for sale.  The pellets cost over $500 per ton to make and a hauler 
was paid at least $25 or more per ton to get rid of them.

The pellets are tricky to tranport or store since they go into spontaneous 
combustion.  Piles of these pellets burned on a farmfield in Durham Region 
for over a week.  Then the pellets were provided to Couse Ltd of Tillenburg. 
Mr Couse was told by USFilter Canada that there was no combustion problem 
with the pellets.  He was told to build a storage facilty.  The pellets 
arrived hot and  went into spontaneous combustion inside the storage 
building. The City and USFilter never took any responsibility for misleading 
Mr Couse, and did not make restitution.

The Brenzil brothers then took over the business of hauling away the 
so-called "fertilizer" pellets.  They loaded them in a storage site at 1281 
Old Thorold Stone Road in Thorold Ontario.  Soon the Thorold the fire 
department was called in....
The Brenzils lost their waste hauling licence when they left Terratec 
(American Water Services...the sludging company).  Word is the Brenzils have 
now declared bankrupcy on their hauling firm : Empire Agri-Services. So what 
chumps will the City engage to tote away their expensive hot little dung 
darlings?  And to where?  London...?


(details: http://www.canadafreepress.com/2003/main110303a.htm )

With that kind of expensive stupidity afoot, what are these guys up to now?
..........................................................



Karen Stintz and Denzil Minnan-Wong take a wasted trip to Green Lane, 
seeking fine print in Toronto's hush-hush deal

Mar 02, 2007 04:30 AM
Donovan Vincent
CITY HALL BUREAU

They drove 2  1/2 hours to get a first-hand look at the $220 million Green 
Lane landfill Toronto is buying. But when Councillors Karen Stintz and 
Denzil Minnan-Wong got there, dumpsite officials turned them away.

"We met with officials at the landfill. We asked for a tour and permission 
to look at the site and we were flatly refused," a frustrated Minnan-Wong 
said yesterday via cellphone as he, Stintz and their staff drove back to 
Toronto in a snowstorm.

The councillors have led the charge to elicit a detailed briefing from 
Toronto city hall staff about the purchase including a petition they and a 
dozen other councillors signed.

The petition was handed to staff in Mayor David Miller's office but has so 
far been met with "dead silence," the two say.

Refusing to be stymied, Stintz and Minnan-Wong drove to Green Lane, near St. 
Thomas, to collect some information themselves.

"I think it's highly irregular that representatives of the City of Toronto 
should not be allowed to view and investigate a landfill we're spending 
hundreds of millions on. That's wrong," Minnan-Wong added.

"We feel we have a duty to the city and our constituents to learn as much 
about this purchase as possible, as we've been kept in the dark over the 
details relating to the purchase."

Green Lane president Bob McCaig was not available for comment.

The two councillors contacted Toronto staff before their trip and were told 
they wouldn't be allowed on the site because it was "too muddy."

They went anyway, hoping not to be refused at the gate.

Plus, they'd arranged to meet with St. Thomas Mayor Cliff Barwick. Stintz 
and Minnan-Wong said that meeting left them with serious questions about the 
dumpsite's lifespan and added potential costs.

Works department staff say that despite some reports suggesting Green Lane 
would be slated to close in 2018, it will stay open beyond that, thanks to 
future waste diversion.

Councillors were first told of the landfill purchase plan during a 
closed-door meeting in September. Council later voted to give staff power to 
negotiate the deal. They were shown the deal last year, but some say they 
weren't given enough time to absorb its details. Miller promised in 
September to make the deal's details public in 90 days, but disclosure has 
been delayed until the transfer takes place by month's end.

The city was forced to find a new home for its garbage after an agreement 
was reached with Michigan to close the border to Ontario's trash in 2010.

"It's frustrating," Stintz said. "The mayor and certain councillors have 
information that other councillors don't have, and I don't think that's in 
the spirit of building consensus on council," she said. "We have delegated 
so much authority to staff and we won't see the final agreement before it's 
signed. That concerns me."