Heather Wright/The Independent

The head of York1 says “municipal support was communicated” to officials as they met with Chatham-Kent’s mayor, local councillors and staff in 2022.

York1 President, Brian Brunetti, in the company’s filing to the Environmental Registry of Ontario which asked for comments on a provincial plan to force the Dresden dump revitalization to undergo an Environmental Assessment, said the company had “numerous meetings” with both politicians and staff years before word of the plan became public.

Dresden residents were angered by the idea of 700 trucks daily coming to the site with construction and soil waste and public meetings in February and March drew large crowds.

Brunetti says “since the inception of its project, York1 has informed the Municipality of Chatham-Kent of their plans for the project and consulted directly with the municipality.” That included a Dec. 2021 meeting with the mayor, according to the letter, where the company outlined “our interest in acquiring the Dresden landfill, developing a regenerative recycling facility and outlining our interest in entering a host-community agreement.”

Brunetti says the company met with the mayor again in Feb. 2022 “and had numerous meetings and calls throughout 2022 and 2023 with municipal staff, local councillors and further meetings with the mayor.”

Email messages obtained by The Independent under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, show a representative of York1 first met with Mayor Darrin Canniff and senior staff in October 2019. The emails also showed multiple meetings at local restaurants in the time frame Brunetti references.

“During these meetings, York1 outlined our plans for the Dresden Landfill and indicated our interest in entering into an equitable host- community agreement with the Municipality. The tone in the meetings was supportive and collaborative and it was through these meetings that York1 agreed to limit the waste accepted at the facility to non-hazardous construction waste as per the municipalities’ request to York1. Municipal support was communicated at these meetings,” writes Brunetti.

Information received by The Independent seems to support that statement, with Director of Economic Development Stuart McFadden saying he had “committed to helping York with the community consultation activities that will be required in the future” and supporting “potential future spin-off business opportunities.”

The emails also show municipal staff talking with York1 officials about locations for public meetings when the Mississauga based company’s plans became public and offering a police presence to make sure the meetings were orderly.

But Brunetti said, that municipality support changed in 2024. “After the 2024 public consultation meetings, a social media-driven community campaign mobilized against York1’s Project. In reaction to this, the mayor, and councilors of the municipality in a very politically sensitive environment, publicly reversed their support for the York1 Project.”

In an interview with The Independent last week, North Kent Councillor Jamie McGrail, who was involved in at least three meetings with the company, said councillors were misled as York1 talked only about the recycling project and the 20 jobs it might create.

Councillor Rhonda Jubenville, who also represents the Dresden area, acknowledged she spoken with York1 officials and CK staff about the project long before it became public, but was led to believe it would not be much larger that what had historically been at the site.

Mayor Darrin Canniff during a February council meeting, said the municipality had never been consulted and York1 had not offered “one thin dime” for a host agreement for the site.

The Independent has reached out to Canniff multiple times in the past two week.
He has yet to respond.