At a meeting held on February 23, Counties Council has voted down a motion asking it to terminate any discussions or negotiations with an existing or potential purchaser of the ED-19 designated regional landfill site owned by the United Counties.
Council member Pat Sayeau, Mayor of Edwardsburgh Cardinal Township where the site is located, brought the motion forward at a regular meeting of council. Nine of 10 council members voted against the motion, with the exception of Mayor Sayeau.
Two delegations were heard prior to the vote. Edwardsburgh Cardinal Councillor Michael Barrett presented a petition. He said residents are concerned if the land is sold to a private company there is a greater risk of the landfill expanding and bringing in waste from other jurisdictions.
Michael Walters, a senior manager with the Tomlinson Group, a company interested in purchasing the site, said the designation of ED-19 as a landfill was determined many years ago and was the result of “sound engineering.” He said the site would be limited to taking in 50,000 tonnes of waste per year, which could serve Leeds and Grenville for the next 28 years.
Following the vote, Warden Robin Jones asked Counties Chief Administrative Officer Andy Brown to complete a timeline report on ED-19’s designation, how much public input there has been throughout the process and a communications strategy moving forward to improve public engagement. The report is to be presented at the next Committee of the Whole meeting on March 7.
The defeated motion follows a public meeting February 16 where Edwardsburgh Cardinal Township residents voiced concern over the sale and usage of the land without more public consultation. The motion noted residents clearly expressed their opposition to “any future development of the ED-19 waste disposal site or any other waste disposal site within the Township of Edwardsburgh Cardinal” at the meeting.
The designated property called ED-19 is located at the west end of Byers Road. It is approximately 165 acres in size with about 35 acres designated for the landfill footprint. ED-19 was identified as the preferred landfill site in the 1990s as the result of a Waste Management Master Plan Study for the United Counties, Brockville and Prescott. ED-19 received Environmental Assessment approval and a Provisional Certificate of Approval from the Province of Ontario in 1998. For more information contact CAO Andy Brown at 613-342-3840, ext. 2301.

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