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T.O. dumps on London
Wed, September 20, 2006

Facing a looming garbage crisis, Toronto councillors vote to buy the Green Lane Landfill southwest of London.

By ROB GRANATSTEIN, SUN MEDIA

TORONTO -- Goodbye, Michigan. Hello, London.

Toronto councillors voted 26-12 yesterday to buy the privately owned Green Lane Landfill southwest of London, in a landmark, swift and strategic move to deal with the city's looming garbage crisis.

"The City of Toronto has been trying to find landfill capacity for 20 years," a beaming Mayor David Miller said yesterday.

"We've got it now. You can't go to the local store and buy landfill. They are very rare and unique."

The price of this deal will not be known for 90 days, a full month after the next city election. A strict confidentiality agreement is in place until the deal is finalized, but it's believed to be in the $200-million range.


Politicians in London were quick to condemn the deal and the secrecy surrounding it.

"The right thing to do would have been to call us and not let us find out through media reports," Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best said.

She and other politicians have lobbied the province for years to force Toronto to deal with its own trash.

"It's appalling disregard for local municipalities," Coun. Susan Eagle said.

"They're our big neighbours simply asserting their power and will. It's very disappointing," Eagle added.

London-Fanshawe Liberal MPP Khalil Ramal vowed to do all he could to thwart the sale to Toronto.

"I don't want London -- which is well-known in Ontario and Canada as a health-care provider, as an education provider -- to be known also as a garbage dump site."

But some city politicians said nothing could be done to stop the landfill's sale -- and the shipping of millions of tonnes of Toronto's garbage to the London area.

Bob McCaig, whose family has owned the landfill since 1949, wouldn't say how much Toronto is paying for it.

"We're just pleased to be working with Toronto on an environmentally viable solution to a major problem," McCaig said.

Miller said by buying the landfill, Toronto controls its own future and won't twist in the wind if the Michigan border -- where Toronto sends as many as 85 trucks of garbage a day -- closes.

Toronto is still contractually obligated to ship its garbage to Republic Services' Carleton Farms landfill in Michigan until 2010, so trucks will keep crossing the border.

By Jan. 1, 2011, Toronto's garbage will still rumble west down Highway 401, but turn off just past London to reach Green Lane's landfill, 10 minutes outside the city.

Miller promised to be a good neighbour to London and St. Thomas, and council voted to investigate building a 401 off-ramp directly to the dump.

He said despite outrage from residents in London and area, there's not much they can do.

"It's simply a business transaction," Miller said. "It's a private landfill."

Toronto already uses Green Lane to dump some garbage from private haulers. Guelph and York Region also dump garbage there.

The city's purchase includes everything related to the landfill, including equipment and signed contracts.

Price remains the question. Toronto works committee chairperson Shelley Carroll said buying the dump is more expensive than the $65 a tonne it costs to send trash to Michigan, but less expensive than the $88 a tonne to use, but not buy, Green Lane and other landfills as a fallback plan.

Green Lane has capacity to take Toronto's garbage for 20 to 23 years, if the city continues its aggressive recycling program.

Toronto Coun. Case Ootes said many questions remain unanswered and the public hasn't been consulted.

"It doesn't solve the problem of alienating . . . our neighbours," he said. "We ticked off the Americans and now we're going to tick off the people in London and St.Thomas."

Talks behind the scenes between the city and the landfill went on for more than a month before the deal was agreed to Friday night.

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The city of London has an excellent garbage disposal plan and will now be punished for their foresight in the form of Toronto's garbage being dumped in their backyard and London gets nothing for it!!!

Maybe London residents can learn a lesson from native protesters and occupy this landfill and/or blockade it the day the trucks first roll. The Ontario government could then buy the land from Toronto and give it to London.

   

Toronto moves to buy landfill that can last years

I guess Toronto gets to dump its garbage on other municipalities because politically its much easier than trying to create a dump within their voting area.

If they were forced to deal with their garbage within Toronto and surrounding area I think they will reach a much more sustainable solution in a much quicker time. With the finalisation of this Green Lane deal it will effectively give Toronto another 15 years to procratinate or find someone else to dump their garbage on.

I guess they'll save lots of money by cutting transportation costs in half....maybe they could give these saving to the citizens of Elgin and Middlesex Counties...highly unlikely but I wonder what kind of property tax they will be paying on the site. They will probably reduce this tax bill by agreeing to build a dedicated off ramp from the 401.

   

I'm not very happy about this. I had a co-op work term in Cambridge and every morning when I left London I could smell the landfills as I headed east on the 401. London isn't a huge city, and we have our own waste issues. The last thing I want to see (or smell) is more garbage, from a city which would rather throw money at a problem than deal with it.

   

To·ron·to (tə-rŏn'tō)

1. Canada's New York

   

as long as they don't dump it in kirkland lake it's fine

   

I'd dump it in quebec

   

How about Thunder Bay? it might improve the landscape

   

WOAH WOAH WOAH.

NO.

NONONONO.

Got something against Thunder Bay?

Send the garbage to New York and throw it aroung the streets. They'll never notice.

   

Nice people in Thunder Bay, but that pulp mill... Yikes! What an aroma.

   

Not to mention the decline in property value for Londoners. There is a stretch of houses near this landfill site, and the People in them have to tolerate trucks going in and out all through the night, odor, and disease. I have no clue why Ann Marie-Best was re-elected.

   

Why not dumped it up in Kirkland Lake?
I know there a few other options etc, but atleast Kirkland Lake would get some jobs back. Last time I was there, the job situation was looking pretty bleak?
Not to mention the amount of money that would brought in-:)
Money talks-BS walks right?

   

Yeah I was pissed when I heard about that. I mean, isn't there any other ways besides dumping it in London? I live in london and I hate to see this happening.

   

Just thought I would take the time to give y'all an update on the landfill issue here in London. As someone who lives in the area--just moved here--I gotta tell ya IT SMELLS HORRIBLE. If I had known it was like this I would not have signed a lease for this house. I wanted a little house in the country for my son and my dog to have freedom and safety that they were not getting in town. What I got was a smell so foul I need to wear a hospital mask with deodorizer sprayed on it. It is winter now so the windows are closed but what will it be like come summertime? I am understandably upset by the lack of technological advancement on odour elimination being utilised by this company. According to documents I have read from Singapore, Taiwan and the states this does not have to be occurring. So why is it and why are we putting up with it?
I just let my dog out for a run around before bed but had to cut it short because I am nauseous. I can't wait for my lease to run out to MOVE. Can you imagine if I had bought the house instead of renting?

   

Further proof of how useless everything about toronto is. My god that city is so fucked up.

Chellee where in London?

   

Have you ever been to to New York? If not, don't talk.

   

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