Heather Wright/The Independent

York1 Environment Services has hung out its shingle, opening for business. 

It comes as the company tried to appeal to the neighbours around the former Dresden dump to understand more about the project.

York1 purchased the Irish School Road site in 2022. In February 2024, plans for a massive construction and soil waste recycling facility and new landfill were posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

The neighbours and governments in Chatham-Kent and Lambton are fighting the project which could bring up to 6,000 tonnes of waste to the area a day.

But the provincial government cleared the way for York1 to proceed without an Environmental Assessment of the process. Since then, York1 vehicles have been on site and recently, the company began searching for employees.

Tuesday, signs appeared on the gates of the site saying it was open for business Monday to Friday from 7 am to 3 pm. 

The sign says the site’s licence allows non-hazardous construction and demolition solid waste from industrial, commercial, institutional and municipal sectors, including wood waste.

The ECA on the property only allows 75 tonnes a day.

Officials have said in the past they plan to prepare the site for several months with no new material brought in, stored on, or land-filled at the property. 

York1 plans to operate the site under the existing non-amended ECA for waste transfer and processing operating as the previous operator Waste Wood Disposal Ltd.

It plans to apply for a Environmental Compliance Approval for new scope of work for the recycling facility.

Company officials were not immediately available to answer questions about the opening of the site.

But York1 has been reaching out to neighbours through a mailer which appears to be a hand-written note from York1’s President Brian Brunetti. “Over the years, there has been a lot of misunderstanding about our recycling project and I sincerely apologize for that,” the mailer says. 

“More than anything, I want you to know that this facility will recycle construction materials only – no household waste – and follow strict environmental standards.” The material came with a list of Frequently Asked Questions and was mailed to homes in Dresden.

Wendy Vercouteren of Dresden Together was one of the people to get the letter. 

“I don’t know what they’re trying to do,” she said noting the concerns about the landfill and the hundreds of trucks that will come with it are well documented. 

“They’re not our neighbor –  they’re not a welcome neighbor, that’s for sure.”

Vercouteren says there are several misleading statements, including that the municipality was in favour of the project. Chatham-Kent officials did meet with York1’s vice president several times dating back to 2019, but after the company’s plans went public and the community mobilized, the council voted unanimously against support the project. 

And she’s concerned that while the company says there will not be household waste coming to the site, it could happen since the province is facing a shortage of landfill space.

“They are preaching the narrative and making it sound like it’s going to be this glorious recycling facility and it’s not going to be bad for us at all, when we all know that they’re going to get a tap on the shoulder and be told, ‘No, you’re going full-fledged landfill because we need it.’”

Vercouteren believes the company should be holding public information meetings where residents can ask the uncomfortable questions she says York1 doesn’t seem to want to answer.

“I think that they need to set up sessions where they are talking about what their plans are and be prepared for a very strong, rebellious and not happy crowd,” she says adding “being prepared to come with information and being truthful about it. Because in my opinion, I don’t feel that they’ve been truthful about anything.”