1. Director, Water Environment Protection Division, Environment and Transportation Department report dated 3 Sept 98 is immediately attached.

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1 3. EASTERN ONTARIO WASTE HANDLING FACILITY REQUEST TO RECEIVE LEACHATE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION That Council deny the request from Lafleche Environmental Inc. located in the Township of Roxborough, County of Stormont, to identify the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre as a leachate management option for their proposed Eastern Ontario Waste Handling Facility. DOCUMENTATION: 1. Director, Water Environment Protection Division, Environment and Transportation Department report dated 3 Sept 98 is immediately attached. 2. Extract of Draft Minute, 22 Sept 98, immediately follows the report and includes a record of the vote.

2 1 REGION OF OTTAWA CARLETON RÉGION D OTTAWA CARLETON REPORT RAPPORT Our File/N/Réf. Your File/V/Réf CC DATE 3 September 1998 TO/DEST. FROM/EXP. SUBJECT/OBJET Co-ordinator, Planning and Environment Committee Director, Water Environment Protection Division EASTERN ONTARIO WASTE HANDLING FACILITY REQUEST TO RECEIVE LEACHATE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION That the Planning and Environment Committee recommend that Council deny the request from Lafleche Environmental Inc. located in the Township of Roxborough, County of Stormont, to identify the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre as a leachate management option for their proposed Eastern Ontario Waste Handling Facility. BACKGROUND Lafleche Environmental Inc. (Lafleche) is undertaking an environmental assessment for the development of the landfill site located outside the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, in the Township of Roxborough, County of Stormont. Their proposed undertaking would consist of a non-hazardous solid waste disposal facility with a conceptually designed landfill capacity of 4,600,000 tonnes. The service area would primarily be Eastern Ontario, defined as the Counties of Renfrew, Frontenac, Leeds, Grenville, Lanark, Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry, Prescott and Russell, and the Region of Ottawa-Carleton. The secondary service area would be the remainder of Ontario. It is anticipated that the annual waste received at the site would be between 70,000 and 200,000 tonnes, with approximately 155 cubic metres of leachate produced each day. Lafleche expects to receive approval for the environmental assessment by the end of 1998 so that they can then proceed through the Environmental Protection Act Certificate of Approval process before construction occurs. Their plan contemplates the proposed site to be in operation in the summer/fall of 1999 and production of leachate requiring treatment to be in the year 2000 at the earliest.

3 2 DISCUSSION Included in Lafleche s application to the Ministry of Environment for the landfill site is a proposal that in the short term (2-3 years) leachate produced would be disposed of at an existing municipal wastewater treatment facility. It is our understanding that their intention in the long term is to treat leachate on site if a municipal wastewater treatment plant is no longer an option for disposal. Lafleche has contracted with SENES Consultants Limited to undertake the assessment of local municipal sewage treatment plants to handle leachate. In a letter dated 21 April 1998 to the Region, SENES indicates that it has determined that the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre could handle untreated leachate and that they would like to enter into discussions related to the requirements for obtaining a leachate agreement with the Region. Accordingly, Lafleche is requesting that the Region agree to being identified as a leachate management option for their application. Pursuant to the Regional Regulatory Code, the disposal of leachate requires Council approval (Section 5.2.2{9}) and is subject to specific requirements and controls which are identified in the form of an agreement. Prior to establishing the terms and conditions of such an agreement, a technical review of the discharge request is conducted. The technical review process involves accurately determining the quality of leachate to be received and assessing the treatability of the leachate to determine if it is acceptable for disposal. Typically, five years of leachate quality data is requested for the assessment. If applicable, fees for treatable parameters are determined and set out in the agreement. As well, a comprehensive leachate monitoring program, including regular sampling, is established to verify compliance. An estimate of daily leachate volumes produced during the operating period of the landfill site and after the site closure is requested as part of the technical review process. Maximum daily discharge volumes are set and an assessment occurs to ensure the R. O. Pickard Centre s hauled waste disposal facilities can accommodate the additional truck traffic. The staff recommendations would then be submitted to the Committee and to Council for approval, as required by Part 5.2 of the Regional Regulatory Code. CONSULTATION No public consultation process on this request to import leachate into Ottawa-Carleton has been conducted since no technical information is available. FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS While the receipt of landfill leachate could have the potential of generating substantial revenues for the Region of Ottawa-Carleton, the lack of technical information on the quality of the leachate prevents a sound evaluation of the costs that would be incurred by the Region as a receiver.

4 3 CONCLUSION The Department has considered Lafleche s request for a commitment from the Region to identify the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre as its leachate management option. In the absence of any actual technical information on the quality of their leachate, the potential impact it may have on the receiving water, the likely requirement for additional infrastructure modifications for hauled waste receiving facilities and increased treatment costs, the Department recommends that Lafleche s request be denied. The Department also considers that, consistent with the objective of the Industrial Waste Program, it is important to encourage pollution control at the source. Accordingly, the Department recommends that Lafleche fully exhaust all potential on-site treatment alternatives prior to considering the wastewater treatment plant for the disposal of leachate. Approved by Nancy B. Schepers, P. Eng. FJ/ls

5 Extract of Draft Minute Planning and Environment Committee 22 September 1998 EASTERN ONTARIO WASTE HANDLING FACILITY REQUEST TO RECEIVE LEACHATE - Director, Water Environment Protection Division s report dated 3 Sep 98 Councillor Stewart noted this facility is located in a Class 1 Wetland in the South Nation River Watershed and asked staff if, Lafleche Environmental Inc. s (Lafleche) request to the Region to accept its leachate is denied, how would they then treat the leachate. France Jacovella, Manager, Wastewater Collection Branch, advised Lafleche could have on site treatment at their landfill site and, in fact, have indicated in the environmental assessment that hauling the leachate to a wastewater treatment site was only a short term solution and they are looking at on site treatment for the long term. Responding to further questions from Councillor Stewart, Ms. Jacovella advised no technical information on the quality of leachate that would be produced was provided. Therefore staff were not able to comment on whether the leachate would be treatable at the wastewater treatment plant or on the downstream effects to the Region Councillor Stewart stated she did not disagree with the staff recommendation however, she was concerned about what would happen if the Region does not accept the leachate and the effect it will have on the downstream communities and the watershed. Ms. Jacovella noted the Ministry of the Environment and Energy would require a leachate management plan as part of the environmental assessment, prior to issuing a Certificate of Approval for the construction of the landfill site. In response to questions posed by Councillor van den Ham, Ms. Jacovella replied, if the Region were to commit to being identified as the leachate management option, the MOEE would likely grant Lafleche the Certificate of Approval on that basis. If Lafleche then installed on site treatment and there were problems with it, the MOEE could direct the Region to take the leachate for treatment. The Region wants to encourage pollution prevention at the source and, because no technical information was provided, staff would like to encourage Lafleche to exhaust all potential options for treating their leachate on site. Councillor van den Ham then asked if the R.O. Pickard Centre had the capacity to accept Lafleche s leachate. Mr. Jacovella advised accepting Lafleche s leachate could increase the amount of leachate currently received by 50% and additional facilities would likely have to be built. With respect to the treatability of the leachate, it would depend on the quality of leachate and when the trucks would be coming. Councillor Stewart stated it was her understanding that Lafleche has committed to investing a million dollars, through the Ministry of Natural Resources, to the area (such as the Rideau River) to compensate for damage to the wetland. She asked if the Region was in a position to take advantage of this. Nancy Schepers, Director, Water Environment Protection Division

6 Extract of Draft Minute Planning and Environment Committee 22 September 1998 stated she was not aware of the availability of funds the Region could take advantage of. Councillor Stewart urged staff to look into this. The Committee then considered the staff recommendation. That the Planning and Environment Committee recommend Council deny the request from Lafleche Environmental Inc. located in the Township of Roxborough, County of Stormont, to identify the Robert O. Pickard Environmental Centre as a leachate management option for their proposed Eastern Ontario Waste Handling Facility. CARRIED