Heather Wright/The Independent

Before it became publicly known York1 Environmental Waste Solutions planned to repurpose the Dresden dump, it filed its plans for stormwater management at the site.

The request to amend the Environmental Compliance Approval at the site was posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario Nov. 30, 2023 and the chance for the public to comment closed two weeks before the rest of York1’s plan for recycling and the landfill was posted on the same site.

While a number of groups, including the Sydenham Field Naturalists and the Environmental Defense, have voiced concern about runoff from the site into Molly’s Creek beside and through the Irish School Road site, the stormwater management plan has not been publicly available. The Independent asked the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for the document, but it still hasn’t provided it.

Chatham-Kent municipal officials received a copy of the plan which was provided as part of a 1,000 page Freedom of Information request by The Independent. It’s not clear when the municipality received the document although it was posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario Nov. 30, 2023.

York1’s engineering firm says “Stormwater generated on the site (currently) generally infiltrates into the gravel areas or flows overland toward the southwest and discharges to Molly’s Creek. There are little to no stormwater controls on site aside from the roadside drainage ditch along the northeastern and western extents of the sites.” XCG Engineering proposes a series of four storm water management ponds, including two along the property’s border next to Molly’s Creek to deal with stormwater.

XCG says there would be a series of swales lined with grass and forebays which would screen out 80 per cent of the solids. The water would then be held in ponds to improve its quality before being released.

The ponds would be built to hold as much water as may be generated by a 100 year storm, the engineering firm said.

Report indicates the four ponds would be able to a total of 31,500 cubic meters of water when full. That’s about the amount of water which would be held by 12.6 Olympic sized pools.

Part of the plan emphasizes the berming which will take place around the property. And it includes drawings of an extra protective barrier next to Molly’s Creek. It includes a geotextile barrier that is at least 300 mm tall with a trench about 400 mm beneath the surface to capture any runoff. It’s not clear how long the barrier would be.

XCG also says in the report that the natural water cycle for groundwater recharge can be impacted by development and the impermeable cover used could result in a “negative impact to the groundwater regime.”

Comments to the stormwater management report were closed Jan. 14, however the ERO doesn’t say whether the plan has been approved.

And it’s not clear whether it will be part of the full Environmental Assessment going on at the site. The other two reports submitted by York1 on recycling and the landfill have been marked as decided on the Environmental Registry of Ontario saying “The application has been cancelled because Designation Chatham-Kent Waste Disposal Regulation designated the project to which Part II.3 of the Environmental Assessment Act (EAA) will apply.” That indicates the two proposals will now be subject to a full Environmental Assessment. The stormwater management plan does not bear the same designation.