Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Posts Tagged ‘landfill cover’

Ontario’s environmental watchdog has urged the province to shut down a controversial, 55-year-old garbage dump in Napanee.

The Ministry of Environment should immediately order the closing of the controversial Richmond Landfill site, Gord Miller, Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner, recommends in his annual report, released yesterday (tues).

"The (commissioner) believes that there are compelling environmental reasons for (the ministry) to require the immediate, orderly closure of the site and no compelling social or economic reasons for continuing to keep it open," Miller states, in the report.

The site is operated by Waste Management of Canada. Spokesman Wes Muir, reached yesterday afternoon in Toronto, said he could not comment.

"We haven’t had a chance to review the report at this time and we’ll be providing comment at a later date," Muir said.

In 2006, the Ministry of the Environment rejected Waste Management’s bid to expand the landfill so that it could accept up to 750,000 tonnes of trash annually.

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Bad weather may delay completion of Freeport’s landfill closure

A recent spell of rainy weather may derail efforts to complete Freeport’s landfill project prior to the arrival of winter.

Sue Grans, spokesperson for William Charles Construction, said Wednesday the contractor remains optimistic about finishing the project this fall. However, Grans acknowledged recent weather has put the project’s completion in jeopardy.

“We feel comfortable that we are on schedule,” Grans said. “But the rain has not helped and the days are getting shorter.”

William Charles Construction is the project’s primary contractor. However, the closure effort includes the City of Freeport, engineering firm Fehr-Graham & Associates, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ben Bushman, project manager for Fehr-Graham, said Thursday he expects the majority of the landfill’s cover system to be completed this fall. However, contractors may struggle to establish the necessary “grass cover.”

“All of the earth moving will be complete this fall,” Bushman said. “Everything else is weather dependent, primarily the seeding.”

The vegetation, Bushman explained, serves more than an aesthetic purpose.

“If we cannot get adequate grass cover, we will run the risk of erosion, mainly due to the spring thaw,” he said.

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The Ontario Environmental Commissioner’s recommendation to close the Richmond Landfill Site immediately is “disappointing” for the company that operates the Napanee-area dump.

Wes Muir, director of communications for Waste Management, said the recommendation contained in Gord Miller’s annual report came as a surprise to his company. The site, he said, has active certificates of approval issued by the Ministry of the Environment.

“We were disappointed the environmental commissioner chose not to contact us to discuss this matter with us,” Muir said. “The Ministry of the Environment objected an opposition group’s request to close the site. What they came back with late last year is that our landfill is in accordance with its certificates of approval and … the ministry inspects our site for compliance.”

Muir said the monitoring looks into ground and surface water as well as air quality. Results indicate the site is safe, he said.

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