Ministry of the Environment launches review of fill disposal policies

NEWS RELEASE
Ted Arnott, MPP
Wellington-Halton Hills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2014

Ministry of the Environment launches review of fill disposal policies

(Queen’s Park) – In response to repeated requests from Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott and others, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment is launching a review of the Province’s handling of the disposal of fill and contaminated soil.

“Last week, I received a letter from the Minister of the Environment informing me that his Ministry has agreed to launch a review of the Province’s policies regulating the disposal of fill,” Mr. Arnott announced.

The review comes after Mr. Arnott submitted an Application for Review with Ontario’s Environmental Commissioner last November.

Over the past couple of years, Mr. Arnott has worked with a number of local residents concerned about companies taking advantage of the lack of provincial regulations surrounding fill disposal.

Prior to submitting the Application for Review, Mr. Arnott had written to the Minister of Environment three times, requesting that the Minister establish an Interministerial Committee to investigate the problem and come forward with a series of recommendations to address the issue.

“There is currently no province-wide policy regulating the disposal of fill,” Mr. Arnott pointed out. “The Provincial Government has always left it up to individual municipalities to provide oversight and there is no process in place to ensure that compromised soil is being disposed of safely.”

“This is an important issue because so much fill is being trucked out of the city and dumped in rural Ontario,” Mr. Arnott argued. “We need to make sure that it is safe and that the health of local residents and the safety of our water supply is not being put at risk by degraded or compromised soil.”

While Mr. Arnott is pleased that the Ministry of the Environment is looking into the matter, he was disappointed that the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing felt that the matter did not warrant a review by her Ministry.

(Attached: Copies of the letters Mr. Arnott received from the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing)
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Ted Arnott, MPP
Phone: 416-325-3880
Email: ted.arnott@pc.ola.org