D. Jeffrey Dea, Project Officer
Ministry of the Environment
Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch
2 St. Clair Avenue West, Floor 12A
Toronto, Ontario M4V 1L5
Tel: 416-314-7213/1-800-461-6290
Fax: 416-314-7774
jeffrey.dea@ontario.ca
Dear Mr. Dea:
As President of the Rural Council of Ottawa-Carleton, (which reads
the pulse of the thousands of residents within the rural wards of
the former Ottawa-Carleton Regional Municipality, of rural
Chambers of Commerce, Farm Organizations and Community
Associations), I would like to pass along our comments on the
Waste Management Inc, Terms of Reference (ToR) related to their
request for Landfill expansion.
We believe that the time for mega-dumps in close proximity to
urban growth is now passed. With all of the emerging clean
technologies leading toward 100%
landfill waste diversion, the MOE should really be looking at
placing moratoriums (for a few short years) on all such
mega-landfill projects in order to allow policy-makers and
regulators time to develop modern waste management practices for
the times.
No other diversion practice (of any colour bin) will achieve
anywhere close to the Ministry's 60% landfill diversion goals,
without a lot of costly smoke and mirrors --with attendant
taxpayer burden and resentment.
The Rural Council believes that new thermal energy from waste
technologies, (called thermal destruction or thermal
disintegration), will cleanly recoup valuable energy from waste of
all kinds, in a way that will help the environment, will help the
economy and will turn the valuable waste
'commodity' 100% away from
landfills.
These new technologies will soon make landfills an
embarrassing relic of past thinking.
My colleague, Bruce Webster, immediate Past President of the Rural
Council, has prepared a submission, sent in separately (and linked
below), that sums up in four points, what our organization stands
for and believes to be in the environmental and public interests,
as we view the matter.
These are:
-
Let Ottawa control its own IC&I waste
-
Immediately require WM to demonstrate
improved recycling
-
Have WM transparently evaluate all,
(thermal destruction), 100% landfill waste diversion technologies
-
Impose a two year moratorium on new
landfills and landfill extension permits, while new SOTA thermal
waste destruction technologies are proven.
I sincerely hope that the Ministry will give serious consideration
to the many thoughtful and constructive comments assembled from our
unique public perspective.
Rural Council White Paper on Landfill Waste Diversion:
http://www.ruralcouncil.ca/energyfromwaste.htm
City of Ottawa Council, Rural Council Past President and Select
Public Comments on the ToR:
http://www.ruralcouncil.ca/OttawaCouncilCommentsReWM-ToR-100714.htm
Sincerely,
Bob McKinley
President, Rural Council of Ottawa-Carleton
contact@ruralcouncil.ca
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