Site 41 must be stopped
NB: The print version of this article incorrectly stated that polyethylene was invented "50 years ago". Actually, polyethylene was invented 70 years ago, but only began to be used extensively roughly 20 years after that. This correction is reflected in the wording below.

Residents are really worried! Now that actual designs for the proposed new County dump - Site 41, in Concession 2, east of County Road 6 - have been made public, the concerns of residents in the south end of Tiny Township and in Elmvale have increased. What worries those people is that aquifers under the site (possibly including the Alliston aquifer) could be contaminated if something goes wrong. The rest of us should be concerned too!

Garfield Dunlop, MPP for Simcoe North declared: “We must not move ahead with Site 41 until we get 100 percent assurance that the aquifer can never be contaminated because of the existence of a landfill at Site 41.” We thoroughly agree with this statement, and applaud Mr. Dunlop for making it, but engineers tell us 100% assurance is impossible, no matter how carefully the engineering is done.

The Council of the Township of Tiny commissioned a $20,000 peer review of the site plans. But this allows only a cursory review of the plans and won’t permit an in-depth analysis of the site itself. Even had Tiny’s Council elected to spend serious money on a review, it is unlikely that the result would be more helpful. The peer reviewer would probably say something like: “This project conforms to current standards. The proposed technology is well thought out.”

In designing a landfill, the true conditions and problems the landfill may encounter are hidden underground. Probes can reveal a certain amount, but by no means everything. Right now, for example, no one has accurately predicted which way the aquifers flow. To do so, hundreds of wells would have to be drilled.

In 1987, when the studies leading to the current approval of the site were done, it was estimated that 1.7 million litres of water would enter the site every year. That number was recently revised to 50 million litres a year. Once excavation begins, that number will probably be revised again.

Initially it was thought that the uppermost aquifer was 50 to 60 feet down. But it is now thought to be as little as 27 feet below ground level. Only excavation will reveal just how close it is to the surface.

The result of these changed estimates of water flow and depth is that the landfill, with its boat of clay and polyethylene liner filled with garbage, will be only 13 feet above the aquifers at some points on the site. The landfill is meant to be contained for 100 years. But will it? And is 100 years enough?

Engineers also know that ground shifts continually. Such shifts can easily damage the liner. Also, polyethylene was invented 70 years ago, but only began to be used extensively roughly 20 years after that, so there are only 50 years of historical data to predict the rate at which it ages and weakens. Nobody has had 100 years experience with the effectiveness of polyethylene as a container.

Midland’s sludge is slated for Site 41. This landfill is going to receive the bales of sludge that Midland’s sewage facility has been accumulating for years. This sludge cannot be spread on farmers’ fields because its heavy metal content (from waste that Midland allowed industries to dump into its sewers) would make its way into the crops we eat. It is unlikely that this sludge will become innocuous after only 100 years. Such sludge ought to be kept well away from aquifers.

If the liner fails and aquifers are polluted, all those people whose wells and water systems depend on the aquifers will suffer. But who will pay is, in all likelihood, you, the taxpayer!

A Community Monitoring Committee has been in place for several years to keep an eye on this dump site throughout its long life. But will this committee truly persist in its duties after the dump is filled some 40 years hence – through the long years when the liner will gradually age and become less secure?

What should you do? At this stage the only way to stop the construction of Site 41 is politically, either at the provincial or the county level. A provincial election is in the offing and municipal elections occur this autumn. Ask questions of candidates!

Write letters now! The residents of Wyevale and Elmvale have undertaken letter writing campaigns and put together petitions. Shore area associations are beginning to do the same.
All of us in Tiny must write to the relevant politicians and say firmly that the risks Site 41 poses to aquifers are unacceptable and that the provisional Certificate of Approval issued by the Ministry of the Environment should not be made final. Another dump site or another method of dealing with the garbage must be found. Letters — letters, not e-mails — need to be sent immediately to the following individuals:

Ernie Eves, Premier of Ontario
Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto, ON M7A 1L1

Garfield Dunlop, MPP for Simcoe North
482 Elizabeth St.
Midland, ON L4R 1Z8

Chris Stockwell, Minister of the Environment
135 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, ON M4V 1P5

George McDonald, Warden of Simcoe County
1110 Hwy #26
Midhurst, ON L0L 1X0