Waste Management Capacity Project

 Background Information 

The City of Temiskaming Shores has two existing landfill sites, the New Liskeard and the Haileybury Landfill Sites. The New Liskeard Site began operation in 1916 but reached its Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) approved capacity so that the City suspended its operation in June 2009. The Haileybury Landfill Site, which began operation in 1975, is currently the City's only operational landfill and is expected to reach approved capacity in 2019.

In 2008 and in response to the limited future waste disposal capacity, the City generated a Draft Solid Waste Management Master Plan (WMMP) which provided a comprehensive review of the City's waste management practices, approaches and needs for the future. In its conclusions, the Plan places emphasis on intensifying the City's waste reduction and recycling efforts but also identified the immediate need for providing additional landfill capacity to facilitate the City's long-term waste disposal.

The City retained Amec Foster Wheeler Environment & Infrastructure (Amec Foster Wheeler) to undertake a Landfill Feasibility Study that was conducted under the guidance of the City's Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).  The Study evaluated the feasibility of either expanding the City's existing landfill sites (New Liskeard Landfill and Haileybury Landfill) or options for developing a new site ("greenfield sites") within the municipal boundaries. The results were published in two reports (Existing Sites Report, March 2010; and New Sites Report, March 2010).  The final report (Landfill Feasibility Study) was approved by City Council on December 14, 2010. 

The Feasibility Study examined numerous landfill alternatives on the basis of a comprehensive set of criteria related to natural environment, public health, socio-economic/cultural factors, technical issues, and cost. The Feasibility Study concluded that the overall preferred option for providing new landfill capacity is the expansion of the existing New Liskeard Landfill Site.

In 2011, to gain approval for the expansion of the New Liskeard Landfill from the MOECC, the City initiated an Environmental Assessment (EA) under the Environmental Assessment Act to examine the environmental effects of the proposed expansion of the New Liskeard Landfill. The EA process involves two steps, the preparation of Terms of Reference (ToR) and the EA.

The revised draft ToR was released for a 30-day public comment period that ended on April 30, 2012. The City incorporated comments received and submitted the Proposed ToR, which proposed to asses a wider range of alternatives. The formal comment period on the Proposed ToR ended on July 3, 2012.

Since the approval of the Proposed ToR on November 28, 2012, the City and Amec Foster Wheeler have undertaken a number of steps that resulted in the selection of the expansion of the New Liskeard site as being the preferred alternative. The first step involved a review of the alternatives to managing the City's waste, which considered doing nothing, thermal technology, energy from waste, waste export, waste import and landfilling. A public consultation session on these alternatives was conducted on February 21, 2013. Based on the review of evaluation criteria and input received during the consultation process, the City selected landfilling as the Preferred Alternative To.

The next step was to review the alternative methods for landfilling, which meant an evaluation of the potential locations, inside and outside the municipal boundary, where a landfill could be located. This evaluation included the review of setbacks from sensitive areas as well as locations within 10 km of the municipal boundary and having reasonable road access. There were 9 locations identified within the municipal boundary and 8 located outside. A public consultation session on these alternative locations was conducted on June 25, 2014. Based on the review of evaluation criteria and input received during the consultation process, the City selected landfilling through the expansion of the New Liskeard site as the Preferred Alternative Method.

Following the identification of the Preferred Alternative Method, the City and Amec Foster Wheeler undertook the completion of the EA to consider the potential impacts of the proposed expansion of the New Liskeard site. The EA evaluated the following.

  • Natural environment
    • Atmospheric environment (air quality; greenhouse gas emissions)
    • Aquatic environment (fish habitat; fish community/species; Species at Risk)
    • Geology and soils (surficial geology; soil contamination)
    • Groundwater (quality; quantity and flow)
    • Surface water (quality; quantity and flow)
    • Terrestrial environment (habitat, vegetation communities, plant life; protected areas; wetlands; birds; other wildlife; rare species/Species at Risk)
  • Social environment
    • Aboriginal communities (traditional uses of land and resources; built heritage; archaeological sites; cemeteries, burial grounds)
    • Land use and resources (existing land uses; planned land uses and land use policies; land resources)
    • Municipal and community services (municipal infrastructure and services)
    • Noise (noise levels; sensitive receptor locations)
    • Public health and safety (water wells/drinking water supplies; effects related to litter, odours, and dust; road safety)
    • Recreation (Trails, parks and other designated recreation areas)
    • Transportation (road infrastructure, air traffic)
    • Visual aesthetics (visual landscape quality)
  • Cultural environment
    • Archaeology (archaeological sites; cemeteries, burial grounds, other)
    • Heritage (built heritage; other cultural features)
  • Economic environment
    • Local economy (labour market, local employment; local businesses)
    • Municipal finances (revenues and expenses)

The EA Report  was formally submitted on September 2, 2016. The formal comment period on the EA began on September 2, 2016 and ended on October 21, 2016 (see the Notice). 

After review and comments from the Ministry and introduction of the Waste Free Ontario Act, an Amended EA Report was submitted on March 9, 2018. The Amended EA Report can be viewed here.

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks completed the Ministry Review of the EA. The Ministry Review is available here. The comment period for this phase of the EA is September 14 to October 19, 2018.

 Environmental Assessment

Planning Process

The Ontario Environmental Assessment Act (the Act) and the associated regulation and guidance documents on waste management projects (O.Reg.101/07; MOE 2007a), require that an Environmental Assessment (EA) pursuant to Part II of the Act be completed for the development of a new landfill with a proposed capacity of more than 100,000m3. The EA process involves two steps.

  1. Preparation of Terms of Reference (complete; approved November 28, 2012)
  2. Environmental Assessment (complete, submitted September 2, 2016)

The EA was completed based on the approved ToR as approved. The EA provides the following:

  • Identification of alternatives
  • Assessment of the environmental effects
  • Identification of preferred alternative and its environmental effects
  • Identification of measures to avoid, minimize and/or mitigate adverse effect of the alternative
  • Detailed information on the alternative

The EA process, associated studies, evaluations, and conclusions are documented in the EA Report.

The EA process provides transparency in the decision-making and extensive opportunities for public consultation and involvement of Aboriginal Communities in the planning process. 

 Community Consultation
Public involvement is an integral part of the Environmental Assessment (EA) process and key to the success of the New Waste Management Capacity Project. As such, the public and Aboriginal people have been encouraged to participate in the development of the approved Terms of Reference (ToR) and EA Report. 

The consultation approach enables two-way communication between the City and interested parties. All involvement activities undertaken for the ToR and EA are documented in the ToR and EA Report. A Consultation Plan is presented in the ToR.

Through involvement in the preparation and review of the ToR and EA Report, interested parties had an early opportunity to be involved in the process and to obtain information about the Project proposal that may affect them. It also allowed the community to decide early in the planning process about the level of their concern and their need for continued participation in the process. Specific opportunities for involvement include:

  • Project website
  • Open houses
  • Comment forms
  • Opportunities for review of reports
  • Direct contact with City staff

Open Houses

Members of the public, government agencies, Aboriginal communities and other interested persons are encouraged to participate in Project open houses that are being held during the course of the Project. To date, the following activities have occurred:

  • First Open House - held Monday, May 9, 2011
  • Second Open House - held Thursday, February 21, 2013
  • Third Open House - held Wednesday, June 25, 2014

A summary of consultation activities are included in both the ToR and EA Report as Record of Consultation.

Links and Documents

The following provides links to information related to the Environmental Assessment.

Hard copies of these materials are available for review at City Hall.

Reference Documents

Notices

Presentations

Information Sheets

Comment Forms

 Contacts
For more information on City's Environmental Assessment please contact:

Steve Burnett Technical and Environmental Compliance Coordinator

City of Temiskaming Shores
325 Farr Drive, P.O. Box 2050
Temiskaming Shores, ON P0J 1K0

Phone: 705-672-3363 x4132
Facsimille: 705-672-3200

Contact Steve Burnett for more information.