AO News - Large Scale Fill

Large-Scale Fill Operations / Excess Soil

There is a lot of construction happening in southern Ontario, especially in the greater Toronto area. As the ground is excavated for subways, concourses and parking, where does the dirt go? Companies have been paying rural land-owners (~$60 per load) to take truckloads of dirt/fill off their hands. It has become a lucrative business with one Highway 9 aerodrome rumoured to be making around one million dollars a month.

There are several problems for local communities and neighbours where the fill operation is taking place:

Is the fill contaminated?
Will there be an impact on local water sources?
Who pays for the wear and tear of the trucks on the roadways?
What about the additional traffic, noise and dust?
How does it affect property values?
Who has jurisdiction when there is a problem?
Why are there no government standards?
What happened to the original plan for the land? What is the community giving up?
How does it impact the natural topography of the land?
Is there an impact on other industries such as tourism?

Adding insult to injury, old quarry sites or gravel pits are being purchased as dump sites for the fill. This is not the pit rehabilitation originally promised to the community. The “interim” life-span of the aggregate site is increased. The traffic, noise and dust are problems. Neighbouring property values decrease. Also, with all the stone and gravel extracted from the site, the water table is particularly vulnerable to contamination.

Ontario does not have a lot of rules and regulations around large-scale fill operations. It also gets more complicated when an aerodrome or airport is involved as they fall under federal jurisdiction.

“This is not your problem. Let’s get it solved where it should be solved – at Queen’s Park in downtown Toronto”. Gord Miller, Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (source)

Specific Issues

- Beechwood Road Environmental Centre, Tyendinaga Township near Napanee

- Brock Aggregates - Tottenham pit

- Carmeuse Lime, Ingersoll, Guelph

- Ramara Quarry, Ramara Township

- Tottenham Airfield Corporation (TAC), New Tecumseth, Simcoe County

General News – Large-Scale Fill Operations

Date	Source	Title	Comment
2018-08-13	CBC News	GTA building boom spawns shadowy “black market” for waste soil	Michael Smee
2018-03-27	Simcoe.com	Dirt dumping under the microscope in Ramara	Frank Matys AO News - Ramara Quarry
2018-03-12	CBC News (Montreal)	Using GPS trackers to fight toxic soil dumping
2017-11-01	Orangeville.com	Dufferin County pit operator fined $67K for violating aggregate license	Chris Halliday AO News - Aggregate
2016-09-20	Yorkregion.com	Stouffville mayor refuses to sign gravel pit amendment into law	Ali Raza - AO News - Aggregate
2016-05-02	TrueActivist.com	Americans Distracted By The Transgender Bathroom Argument While 3 Nuclear Disasters Unfold	Brianna Acuesta - Bridgeton Landfill, Missouri, fire AO News - Nuclear
2016-03-03	Orangeville Citizen	Mono farmer loses his bid to cover ravines with landfill
2015-09-11	In the Hills Magazine	How ‘Clean Fill’ Became a Dirty Word	Tim Shuff
2015-06-22	CBC Hamilton	Flamborough struggles to combat dumping of illegal Toronto dirt	Samantha Craggs
2015-05-27	Change.org	Petition: Rescind the SIA (South Island Aggregates) permit to dump contaminated soil in the Shawnigan Lake Watershed	Shawnigan Lake, B.C. [indicative of a common attitude re: quarry sites & fill operations]
2015-05-17	Toronto Star	Contaminated soil from Toronto construction sites barred from Scugog	David Rider
2014-10-20	Toronto Star	Toxic dirt dumped in Ontario’s prime farmland	Moira Welsh
2014-06-11	Inside Halton	Court dimisses Burlington airpark appeal	Tina Depko-Denver Burlington Executive Airpark - upholds Burlington’s fill by-law
2014-06-03	CBC News	Rural Ontario residents fear contents of soil dumped near their properties	Marnie Luke
2014-05-02	Vice.com	Sarnia’s Waterfront Park Is Still Closed Due to Asbestos Poisoning	Colin Graf
2014-03-13	Orangeville.com	Mono doesn’t climb on board with farmer’s fill request	Todd McEwen
2013-12-25	Youtube / accscscainfo	Video: Battle for the Springs (17 mins)	Taggart-Miller Environmental Services’ landfill proposal in Carlsbad Springs, City of Ottawa
2013-11-14	Inside Halton	Burlington wins airpark landfill dispute	Tim Whitnell
2013-10-17	Canadian Environmental Law Association	Blog: How to say "no" to unsuitable landfill sites in Ontario	Richard D. Lindgren
2013-10-08	TheSpec.com	Judge says jurisdiction over fill at core of airport dispute	Burlington Executive Airport
2013-07-16	CBC News	Taxpayers could pay for lost landfill revenue	Colin Butler
2013-07-11	ON Nature (Summer 2013)	A Dirty Business – Residents of Oxford County are fighting a proposed landfill in a quarry ...	Ian Merringer Carmeuse Lime - Walker Industries
2013-06-26	Burlington Gazette	Air Park meeting takes place; all survived – did enough happen to result in a second meeting and will they make a difference?	Pepper Parr
2013-06-14	Inside Halton	Neighbours of Burlington airport complain of ongoing fill activity	Julia Le
2013-03-12	Caledon Enterprise	Cheltenham residents upset about lack of notice on Brampton Brick rehab plan	Matthew Strader
2013-02-08	Lakeridge Citizens for Clean Water, Carmela Marshall	Video: Presentation to 2013 Managing Large-Scale Fill Symposium, Port Perry (2013-01-25)	(16 mins)
2013-02-07	Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, Gord Miller	Video: Presentation to 2013 Managing Large-Scale Fill Symposium, Port Perry (2013-01-25)	Kawartha Conservation
2012-11-21	Richard Anderson	Video: Tally Ho Spoil Dump	8^th line of Essa Township, Alliston
2012-07-23	myKawartha.com	MOE shuts down fill haulage to Taylor’s Road property after second round of testing reveals elevated levels of metals and hydrocarbons	Mary Riley City of Kawartha Lakes Former gravel pit

Other sources of information:

Lakeridge Citizens for Clean Water - www.lakeridgecitizens.ca

Oxford People Against the Landfill (OPAL)