Scugog lays 'stop work order' on fill site
by Rik Davie and Kyla Morgan/The Scugog Standard

A ‘stop work order’ has been issued on a landfill site on Lakeridge Rd. in Scugog Township, despite the fact that six test samples at the site appear to show acceptable levels of toxins and contaminants.

The only government official willing to talk openly on the matter, Scugog Mayor Marilyn Pearce, confirmed the stop work order and the reasoning behind it.

The township recently adopted a new fill site bylaw to further define regulations for dumping materials such as concrete and dirt. The bylaw is now similar to those governing neighbouring communities and Mayor Pearce said the township is working with conservation authorities and the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to minimize discrepancies between regulations at the varying levels of government involved with fill sites.

A complaint made to the MOE and numerous phone calls to The Standard in past weeks, as well as photos seen by The Standard allegedly taken on a Scugog fill site, show materials that appear to be what is considered ‘unclean’ fill dumped on the property. Information and unconfirmed reports obtained by The Standard suggest the possibility of more suspicious activity at other fill sites in the area.

Unreturned phone calls, “no comment” statements and inconsistent or unanswered e-mails have become a trend among agencies and individuals questioned by The Standard concerning clean fill sites in Scugog.

Over the last two weeks, at least five messages left for Scugog’s Public Works Commissioner Gene Chartier - both on his office and cell phone answering machines - regarding a clean fill site on Lakeridge Rd. have not been returned.

When speaking with one Standard reporter about another fill site, Mr. Chartier said he would look into the original e-mail request from another reporter at this newspaper. As of press time, Mr. Chartier had not replied to the e-mail sent June 30. When reached on the phone two weeks ago, Mr. Chartier said he would not comment about the fill site but would answer technical questions.

The e-mail requested details regarding testing done on Scugog fill sites and what was included in a letter to the Ministry of Environment about fill site alterations.

Last week, Mayor Pearce said the township was conducting multiple testing with a 24-hour turn-around and to contact Mr. Chartier for information on test results.

She said she believed results had been received. In a phone interview on Tuesday (July 13), Mayor Pearce confirmed that testing done for the township by Golder and Associates on six samples collected from the site “reported no adverse findings.”

However, the mayor also confirmed that a stop work order for filling at the site had been issued by the township while it awaits confirmation that operators at the site are conforming to Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan guidelines for filling and site alteration.

“I feel municipalities are being left like sitting ducks by the province in regulating this process,” Mayor Pearce said. “There are huge holes in the regulations and we, in Scugog, fear some people may be filling these holes with questionable materials and leaving municipalities without the needed structures to police it.”

The MOE sent an inspector to one Scugog clean fill site after complaints from one individual were made to the ministry.

Kate Jordan from the communications branch at the MOE said, “The ministry becomes involved if there are any concerns for off-site impacts and illegal waste activities. Our officer did not see any evidence of significant waste disposal activities and did not observe any off-site impacts. Based on these observations, we do not have any concerns for impacts to the environment at this time.”

When The Scugog Standard requested a copy of the inspector’s report, Ms. Jordan said, “Because it was not a formal inspection (since we don’t regulate fill sites), we don’t have an inspection report.”

Sources indicate a company based out of Pickering may be dumping fill on the Lakeridge Rd. site in Scugog. Calls made to the company’s CEOs and vice-presidents have gone unanswered.

The Standard obtained a cell phone number for one CEO and also left a message at that number. The message was not returned by press time.

The owner of the Lakeridge Rd. fill site, who was contacted by The Standard, declined to comment at this time.

On Canada Day, bylaw officers discovered another fill site on Head Rd. operating without a permit. Mr. Chartier said it is being investigated.

Mayor Pearce said that the situation will become serious if municipalities and the province can’t work together on the issue.

“Other municipalities will do what we are looking at,” Mayor Pearce said. “If you find you can’t regulate and activity you simply ban it. There are thousands of acres of brown fields in the GTA being reclaimed and that dirt will go somewhere.”

Sources close to the numerous investigations surrounding the dumping of so-called clean fill across Ontario say there are concerns the practice is lucrative enough to attract a criminal element to the business if it remains in a regulatory gray area much longer. At this point, no violations of any of the provincial regulations have been confirmed by any level of government and municipal officials remain tight-lipped about when and how they will enforce the stop work order on the Lakeridge Rd. site.

The Standard has placed a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for details surrounding fill sites.

Moments before press time, Scugog CAO Bev Hendry confirmed the mayor’s earlier statements but said further information would have to await the outcome of the FOI request. The township has 30 days to reply.

It is not known if the owners of the Lakeridge Rd. site plan to contest the stop work order.