MOE Halts Part of Northwest Trunk Sewer Construction
Comments (0)Ward 4 Councillor Glenn Campbell expressed concerns about some of the Trunk issues at the Aug. 16 council meeting, calling them “showstoppers,” and later
told This Week council wasn’t getting enough information about the project. On Wednesday (Aug. 31) he said, “We are flirting with environmental disaster.”He said the studies done during the initial EA process took place before the design was completed, and it wasn’t thorough enough.
“In my opinion, the initial EA investigation was inadequate,” he said. “It should have identified the problems of going through the landfill and the potential
impacts of disturbing PCB-laden silt. On a project this size, there should have been much more information. If council had known about the potential problems,
they may not have gone with the current design plan. We may have looked at another way of going under the river.“Now, we don’t know a cost or a completion date.”
Local developer Marty Stollar has followed the trunk project closely from the beginning, and raised numerous concerns with the process, both through correspondence
and deputations to council. On Tuesday (Aug. 30), his comment was blunt.“[Council] was repeatedly told they need to look at this during the EA process,” he said. “They categorically refused to look at anything to do with the
forcemain. This should have been addressed (during the EA process) a year and a half ago. But, they were adamant that it didn’t fall under the EA…and,
now, the MOE has told them they are wrong. Not doing their homework has come back to haunt them.”
Ministry of the Environment wants a public meeting and proof the City has a plan in place to ensure installing a forcemain under the Scugog River won’t
disturb PCBs in sediment
Northwest Trunk Sewer construction. Lance Anderson
“It’s an extra safety precaution that will ensure there are no problems. I’m confident in our people…the Northwest Trunk will be built.”Mayor Ric McGee
(LINDSAY) The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has ordered that construction be stopped on a forcemain going under the Scugog River in Lindsay, and has
called for a public meeting after Ministry testing has shown elevated levels of PCBs at the site.
The Ministry is concerned about how the City plans to install the pipe without disturbing the high levels of PCBs found at the site, the former Lindsay
Street landfill.
Tunneling under the river and installing a forcemain to connect the Trunk to the water treatment plant is Contract 1 of the $10-million-plus trunk project.
The bulk of the trunk is being built at Colborne Street and Highway 35, but, the existing pipe does not have the capacity to handle future growth; hence
a new pipe must be installed.
Jeff Seaton, project manager for the trunk, said the City learned in July that the Ministry had tested for PCBs (the report shows high elevation levels
at the proposed site.)
As well, he said the existing pipe was built in 1962, and the concern was installing a new pipe so close “to a 50-year-old one.”
Mr. Seaton said the original plan was to cross the river following an existing easement, but it was later discovered that meant going into a “significant
wetland.” That discovery meant the pipe had to move.
But, the next hurdle was buried garbage in the location. “The Ministry doesn’t want us drilling through buried garbage,” Mr. Seaton said, adding that garbage
will be collected and relocated.
(On Tuesday (Aug. 30) Ward 9 Councillor Andy Luff said the garbage was not expected to be found in the proposed location for the pipe.)
In a letter to the Ministry earlier this month, the City asked if the pipe could be moved without having to revise the original EA.
The Ministry denied that request, outlining its concerns and direction in a response the City received on Aug. 29.
The MOE report shows the results of PCB testing, pointing to particularly high levels in the proposed location for the forcemain. (The report notes that
elevated PCB levels were identified adjacent to the former Lindsay Street landfill as far back as 2000.)
Mr. Seaton said the City learned the test results in July.
The Ministry’s primary concern is how the pipe will be installed without disturbing the PCBs in the soil at the Scugog River and how any leachate will be
prevented. No deviation from the original EA will be permitted without proof from the City that there won’t be any negative impacts on the environment
and the community from such a change.
In an email to This Week on Monday, Ministry supervisor Jim Martherus said that if the City wants to alter the original alignment of the pipeline, it must
undertake the EA work to support it, which includes identifying and addressing any potential environmental impacts resulting from the change of location.
Before any apporval is given, the Ministry would review the EA and “take all public comments into consideration.”
“Any construction of the pipeline would have to be done in an environmentally protective way and we would ensure the City has plans in place to properly
construct and monitor the project to ensure the community and environment are not put at risk.”
Mr. Seaton said the new technology available today offers options for going under the river, but consideration must still be given to the possibility that
something could go wrong if a rock is hit and fractured. There are two methods; one is “mining” and the other is direct drilling. Both can present potential
problems, he noted, and the City “has to come up with a plan.”
“The presence of PCBs raises the ‘what ifs’,” he said. “The techniques are proven, but you ask what the safety factor is. The Ministry wants a contingency
plan.”
Asked if the initial EA process could have revealed potential problems, Mr. Seaton said earlier studies didn’t include the “detailed design component.”
Coun. Luff said, “The Ministry has concerns, therefore the City must address those concerns.” But, he insisted the trunk is not in jeopardy.
He said PCBs in the soil at the river are no secret, given the types of factories, including arsenals that existed in the past.
“We’re not digging into it. We’re going underneath the sediment…with trenchless technology, so we wouldn’t be disturbing it. But, if the Ministry wants
us to have a public meeting, we’ll have the public meeting. We don’t have to complete that part of the Trunk right now; we can continue to build (at Highway
35 and Colborne Street).”
Ward 4 Councillor Glenn Campbell expressed concerns about some of the Trunk issues at the Aug. 16 council meeting, calling them “showstoppers,” and later
told This Week council wasn’t getting enough information about the project. On Wednesday (Aug. 31) he said, “We are flirting with environmental disaster.”
He said the studies done during the initial EA process took place before the design was completed, and it wasn’t thorough enough.
“In my opinion, the initial EA investigation was inadequate,” he said. “It should have identified the problems of going through the landfill and the potential
impacts of disturbing PCB-laden silt. On a project this size, there should have been much more information. If council had known about the potential problems,
they may not have gone with the current design plan. We may have looked at another way of going under the river.
“Now, we don’t know a cost or a completion date.”
Local developer Marty Stollar has followed the trunk project closely from the beginning, and raised numerous concerns with the process, both through correspondence
and deputations to council. On Tuesday (Aug. 30), his comment was blunt.
“[Council] was repeatedly told they need to look at this during the EA process,” he said. “They categorically refused to look at anything to do with the
forcemain. This should have been addressed (during the EA process) a year and a half ago. But, they were adamant that it didn’t fall under the EA…and,
now, the MOE has told them they are wrong. Not doing their homework has come back to haunt them.”
Mr. Stollar’s company operates the Whitney Town Centre in Lindsay, and when he was asked about a possible perception that he is out to sabotage the trunk
project because his plaza would suffer if a big-box shopping centre is built, he said 40 per cent of the Town Centre is offices, and it isn’t zoned for
large stores, so it is not affected.
“And, Tim Horton’s doesn’t leave…they add [to their stores],” he said.
Mayor Ric McGee said he was not worried at all about the Ministry’s direction. He said it is fair to give the public an opportunity to comment on the process,
given that the pipe has to be moved. It is council’s job, he said, to ensure the trunk is built properly and that nothing happens to compromise the well-being
of the environment and the community, especially when undertaking something as serious as drilling under a river.
“It’s an extra safety precaution that will ensure there are no problems,” he said. “I’m confident in our people…the Northwest Trunk will be built.”
Reproduced from http://www.mykawartha.com/news/article/1074406–moe-halts-part-of-northwest-trunk-sewer-construction
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