Dresden fights landfill expansion as Ford government seeks public comment

DRESDEN · The Ontario government is seeking public comment on amended permits for a landfill expansion near Dresden, a step the local municipality opposes. The project would revive a small, dormant landfill site less than a kilometre from the town. Waste company York1 plans to fill the site with construction soils and debris over the next decade, reaching a volume equivalent to the Rogers Centre. Municipal officials in Chatham-Kent argue the company is using outdated approvals to avoid a full environmental assessment. The Ford government had promised such an assessment last year but later cancelled it.

Dave Taylor, deputy chief administrative officer for Chatham-Kent, said the community is unanimously against the proposal. "It's a beautiful town, fantastic community, and this is just a few hundred metres north of town," Taylor said. The existing landfill, dating to the 1960s, holds about 40,000 cubic metres of waste. Under the expansion plan, its capacity would grow to 1.6 million cubic metres, with up to 3,000 tonnes of waste accepted daily for sorting at an on-site transfer station. Environment Minister Todd McCarthy's spokesperson, Juliana Wilson, said the project can expand Ontario's waste capacity quickly. "The York1 project is an expansion of an existing facility and can mobilize quickly to expand Ontario's waste management capacity, as active landfill waste permissions are already in place, and it would not require a new environmental assessment that would take nearly a decade to complete," Wilson said in a statement. A York1 spokesperson said the company prioritizes safety and encouraged public participation in the review.

Local residents have raised concerns about the site's proximity to homes, schools, and a tributary of the Sydenham River. A company-commissioned traffic report suggests about 20 two-way truck trips per hour during peak times. "We still hold out hope that by us raising those issues that we know are there, that will still factor into the provincial decision as to whether or not to ultimately grant the environmental compliance approvals," Taylor said this week. The public comment period on the amended environmental compliance approvals remains open until Dec. 21.

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Province changes landfill approval rules

The proposal comes as the province warns Ontario's landfill capacity could be reached within a decade. New omnibus legislation would repeal a municipal veto over new landfills, a power initially granted by the Ford government in 2020. Recent regulatory changes mean landfills seeking to expand no longer need a full environmental assessment. Instead, they only require amendments to their environmental compliance approvals, which govern operational limits like garbage intake and pollution controls.

The province had initially committed to an environmental assessment for the Dresden site in March 2024. That decision followed a local byelection in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex where the PC candidate campaigned against the expansion. After the election, the government cancelled the planned assessment through an omnibus bill. If the amended permits are approved, the municipality says the project will still need to meet local zoning rules. York1 recently dropped a lawsuit that argued those local approvals should not apply.

With files from The Canadian Press, Global News and CityNews