Activist says the letter raises more questions than answers

Heather Wright/The Independent

York1 Environmental Waste Solutions is looking for input on its new plan for the former Dresden dump. But the company is only asking residents in Dresden and they have very little time to have their say.

Dresden residents are receiving an envelope in the mail addressed “current occupant” saying the company “is submitting” an application to change the Environmental Compliance Approval certificate for both the landfill and the transfer and processing site on Irish School Road. The letter, dated, July 30, asks residents to submit their comments to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in the next 15 days. Some residents received their letters Aug. 10.

It’s the first time residents are getting some facts from York1 directly since the province decided the project did not need to go through a full Environmental Assessment as was promised by the Conservatives prior to the Feb. 2025 election.

The letter shows a scaled-back project from the original proposal in 2024 which would have brought a total of 7,000 tonnes of waste to the area daily. Combined, the new proposal will bring 4,000 tonnes daily.

And the new plan outlined in the letter appears to change some of the environmental safeguards as well.

The company says in its letter to residents, the transfer and processing site will receive up to 1,500 tonnes of non-hazardous waste and recyclable materials from construction and demolition sites to be sorted and processed into an “alternative low-carbon fuel” and mulch.

York1 also wants to bring in 1,500 tonnes per day of waste soil to process so it can be reused. That includes concrete, asphalt, bricks and rock.

The waste will be brought in to be sorted and processed in a 20,000 square-foot-building on site. That building, the company says will have leachate collection and storage system. Up to 870 tonnes of unprocessed waste will be stored inside the new facility. Outdoors, 35,000 tonnes of materials including clean waste wood, reuse soil, waste soil with debris, rock or contaminated non-hazardous soil.

The landfill, which currently accepts no more than 75 tonnes per day, would accept up to 1,000 tonnes per day. York1 says in the letter the maximum capacity of the 20-acre-rebuilt site will be 1.62 million tonnes.

The Irish School Road dump accepted just 2.5 per cent of that amount since it opened in 1967 before the Mississauga company bought the property in 2022.

York1 says if the ECA is amended, the landfill will accept waste for eight years; from as early as 2027 to 2035.

In the letter, the company says the landfill will have an engineered liner and equipped with a leachate collection system to properly collect and dispose of leachate “so it doesn’t enter the natural environment.”

Access roads, York1 says, will be “periodically watered to minimize dust” and a perimeter berm will be constructed around the facility to “minimize the visual impact and prevent potential litter migration.”

And, the company says, there will be a defined route for the trucks which won’t go through Dresden. (READ MORE HERE: https://petrolialambtonindependent.ca/2026/06/25/york1s-traffic-plan-shows-200-trucks-per-day-going-to-dresden-site/

There will also be a staging area for trucks so they won’t be parked on the road.

York1 also says in its letter there will be two storm water management ponds on site – down from the four ponds first laid out in the original plan. The letter says “two stormwater management ponds and stormwater collection and conveyance ditches (will) ensure all storm water is fully treated and controlled prior to leaving the site so that there are no negative effects to the surface water or pose a flooding risk during storm events.

The company adds “several monitoring wells” will be installed to monitor ground water for any changes in chemistry, but the letter doesn’t outline how many or how often the testing will take place.

Groundwater contamination was one of the main concerns the MECP raised with the original proposal. Neighbours to the site have already had to rebuild their personal wells after high methane levels in the groundwater.

While the letter outlines the proposal, it is short on details. York1 says it hired consultants to look at noise pollution, dust control, stormwater management, the report were not provided with the letter nor was a link provided for a website where they could be viewed. Nor is the proposal listed on the Environmental Registry of Ontario yet.

Wendy Vercauteren of Dresden Together says the York1 letter she received in her mailbox yesterday raises more questions than it provides answers.

“What are they trying to pull?” Vercauteren asks The Independent.

“They’re talking about consultation – well, sending us a letter, as far as I’m concerned, is not really consultation. That’s advising us that this is what their plans are, but there’s no invitation to reach out to them to have a discussion with them. They’re just saying, ‘okay, whatever comments you have, here’s the email address and send it to them,’ which is basically going to the government.”

Vercauteren says the letter appears to be a “scaled-down version of all the documents that they’ve submitted to the ministry…You’re throwing around a whole pile of numbers that is confusing the heck out of people.”

She calls the letter the “Coles Notes” of what the company is doing.

Vercauteren is concerned about the tight time frame residents have to respond to the letter and its not clear if or when the proposal will be posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.

The community, she says, needs more information directly from the company.

“We don’t even have an opportunity to ask questions, Vercauteren said. “York1 never provided us with an email address of their own. So why are they not providing us an email address that we can contact them to ask them questions instead of it just going to the province?”

Vercauteren believes negotiations are going on behind the scene without public input.

“At the end of the day, has the decision already been made by the province? I feel as though it has been, without this even being completely given to us and reviewed.

“Proper consultation needs to be York1 coming down and hosting a meeting and inviting the the townspeople to come. They’re going to need a big location to do it.”

The Independent has asked York1 about the letter, the scaled-back project and the MECP about whether the project will go through a formal review through the ERO; neither York1 nor the MECP were not available to answer immediately.

Meantime, Chatham-Kent officials are “strongly encouraged” to “participate in the provincial process and submit their own comments and concerns.

“The municipality has retained an independent expert to review information related to the proposed project. That review will help inform Chatham-Kent’s submissions to the province and ensure the municipality’s concerns are supported by appropriate technical expertise and evidence.”

READ THE LETTER HERE: