Neighours react as province clears the path for the York1 project

Heather Wright/The Independent

For Dave and Shari Willson, the passage of the province’s controversial Bill 5 is about as personal as it gets.

When they look out the front window of their Irish School Road home – the home Shari’s dad built – they look directly at the rusty chain link gate of the old Dresden dump. After the passage of Bill 5, the day those gates open to up to 700 trucks carrying construction materials and soil daily is a lot closer than it was a couple of days ago. 

The Willson’s didn’t watch as 71 PC MPPs voted in favour of the bill which removes the requirement for York1 Environmental to complete a full Environmental Assessment at the former Dresden dump. But as the news made the rounds on social media Wednesday, the Willson’s knew the path was clearer for the project to start, meaning all those trucks would be rolling up to their front door.  

The vote left them feeling defeated.

“They’re gonna do what they’re gonna what they want to do, right?” says Dave. “We felt powerless; like at this point, we just feel like we’ve been screwed.

“You buy a house and think that you’re going to stay here forever, and then stuff like this happens. Like, nobody’s going to want to buy this house. You know, we’re basically screwed right now, and I understand a dump and all that has to go somewhere, but this is not the ideal location for it.”

The location of the former wood recycling centre and landfill for incinerator fly ash has been the main concern for those fighting York1’s plan. While the Willson’s home is right across from the former dump, there are a handful of other homes either back onto property or are directly across the road. 

And the gates of the dump are just under a kilometre from Dresden’s town limits. That worries residents.

“Is anyone else having the tough talk about leaving Dresden with their kids,” wrote on woman on social media after the PC government’s bill was approved.

Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff also expressed his disappointed.

“We urge the Government of Ontario to reconsider the implications of this legislation, to listen to the concerns of communities like ours, and to respect the rights of all Ontarians, especially Indigenous communities, whose voices must not be ignored as stewards of the land,” he wrote on social media

While the proximity to the town angers many, there is also concern for the environment. Molly’s Creek runs along the edge of the landfill’s property. It drains into the Sydenham River which is filled with rare aquatic life and provides water for Wallaceburg residents downstream. 

“By voting “yes” to Bill 5 on its third and final reading, the Ontario government has knowingly inflicted a grievous blow against the rule of law, and likely condemned many of the province’s endangered and threatened species to extinction,” said Phil Pothen, Counsel and Ontario Environment Program Manager for Environmental Defence in a news release.

It’s clear, the fight is not over. Pothen says Environmental Defence will try to dismantle the new legislation in court – starting with the section which removes the Environmental Assessment from the Dresden dump. And community groups are starting online fundraisers and talking about blockades to stop the project. See more here https://petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2025/06/06/legal-fights-blockades-possible-in-wake-of-bill-5s-passage/

Dave and Shari Willson plan to fight, too, even though right now, they’re exhausted.

“It’s very tiring and stressful because everywhere we go in Dresden, people are asking, you know, what do you think about this stuff? What do you what can we do to fight it? How can we stop it?” Dave says.

“It’s so draining at this point where we’re like, alright, we give up.”

But with his next breath, Willson says; “I’m not going away without a fight and without being heard that’s for sure. York1 has not returned any of our phone calls. And I have emailed, Shari’s called. I’ve called multiple times. I’ve emailed them – nothing.”

Mixed in with the emotions of losing the first part of the fight, concern over what is to come and the will to fight is disappointment. For Willson, a long-time Conservative, there is disappointment in the government and for his MPP. Lambton-Kent-Middlesex MPP Steve Pinsonneault wasn’t in the Legislature during any of the votes for the bill.

“It’s very upsetting. I because we’ve known him. Shari’s known him for years, right? And on a personal note, and for him not to vote, and, you know, not to say anything, just hide? To me, that’s being a coward,” said Dave.

North Kent Councillor Rhonda Jubenville is also disappointed. She was “holding out hope” that Pinsonneault, her former council colleague, “might stand against the bill.

“I’m disappointed in him, so I’m disheartened. I’m disheartened at the whole thing. I really see no reason for this portion of Bill 5. It’s a mining bill, so this little excerpt regarding the landfill in Dresden – Chatham Kent – it doesn’t really lend anything to the whole mining bill. 

“I personally think (for) Doug Ford, it’s an opportunity to provide for York1. That’s all the only reason – to make things easier for York 1. I don’t really see any reason other than that.”

Chatham-Kent council will talk about its options to fight against the rejuvenation of the dump Monday. Jubenville said she would back any legal action that would force the Mississauga company to fully examine the effects of the landfill and recycling centre on the community and the environment.