Warwick Mayor Todd Case is at a loss to explain why the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change will not assign a full-time inspector to the Twin Creeks Landfill.
The municipality and Waste Management, which owns the site, went to ministry officials recently to argue for the reinstatement of a full-time inspector at the Nauvoo Road landfill. There was a full-time inspector at the site when it first opened whose salary was paid by Waste Management. That changed to once-a-month inspections about two years ago.
The company is now asking the MOECC to allow twice as much trash to come to the site each year. Waste Management and Warwick agreed the full-time inspector should be brought back because of the increase.
Friday, Case received a letter saying the inspections would increase, from once a month to once a week. Case says that wasn’t even discussed. “We asked for a full-time inspector and the company… supports it as well. It was very disappointing… It’s a far cry from on the scene every day.”
Case doesn’t understand the ministry’s rationale in the decision and the letter he received didn’t explain the decision.
In the past, Case says, the ministry has told Warwick it wants to keep the rate of inspection at all the landfills across the province the same. “It’s a very large landfill the way it is now and it is only getting bigger,” he says. “It is only good business to have that due diligence done. It’s an insurance policy for the township residents and for Waste Management.
“The two major partners agree with it and the best they can come up with is once a week? It doesn’t make sense.”
He adds the issue of paying for full time inspection wasn’t even raised.
Case says council will meet with its lawyers to discuss the situation. He says they’re not likely to leave the issue alone.
He expects council will turn to politicians to help, lobbying them to try to get the ministry to agree to a full-time presence at the landfill.