Heather Wright/The Independent

Warwick Township Mayor Todd Case has a hard time believing WM hasn’t increased their fees to customers in 15 years.

That was the last time the township received an increase in the tipping fees it receives under the host agreement the municipality has with the company for the Twin Creeks Landfill on the outskirts of Watford. That agreement spells out the increased fees the community is entitled to as WM’s prices go up.

It also requires WM to provide its financial statements so Warwick’s technical review team can see exactly how much the company is making and if the township is getting its fair share.

But that hasn’t happened this year, according to Alex Ciccone, a lawyer with Garrod Pickfield. “WM has refused to provide all of the information we requested. I want to be really clear in saying this is very clearly, explicitly contravening the host municipality agreement. It’s not a grey area, and this is a binding contract between the township and WM. The result of this is a problem. There is no financial audit of WM’s operations this year. That, at least by my knowledge, is the first in history,” Ciccone told council Tuesday.

He recommended, and council agreed, to direct the lawyers to go to court to get the documents.

Mayor Case says providing the documents shouldn’t be a problem for the company. “It’ll come out loud and clear that everything they say they’ve been doing is above water,” says Case.

But the mayor says the township has found by talking to WM customers and sifting through its website, that the company is “charging these administration charges and these other charges over and above the tipping fees, and we’re saying that those are profit dollars in our opinion.”
Case says WM’s refusal to provide the information has been frustrating.

Over the last few years, Case says, WM has been cooperative. It’s received good reports from the Technical Review Team on the operation of the landfill. And, he says, they’ve worked with the township.

But this year, the report wasn’t so good, leading the mayor to question what’s going on. “Maybe WM has been on somewhat their best behaviour because they’ve been trying to get this expansion at the end of the day,” he says.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the township also reviewed the technical review team’s analysis of the vertical expansion project. WM has submitted its Environmental Assessment to the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks asking to build berms that are 24-storeys high to hold more garbage in one of the biggest landfills in Ontario. The plan will extend the life of the landfill by 12 years.

“They (WM) knew they were going to be going through this EA application, and they obviously want to make a very good case for the expansion, and that’s fine. The community benefits from them being on the best behaviour, running a good landfill,” Case says.

But the company’s refusal to provide the financial information the township requested is eroding the trust built up over the years.

“The relationship has to be one based on at least some trust to survive into the future. And right now, we’re doubting that trust,” Case says.

“We want to obviously do a deep audit to make sure that we are clear on how they’re making their money, and that they’re not charging extra charges only to get around paying us for the community treatment agreement.

“I always say the environmental aspect of the landfill is the most important thing. The second part is getting the best deal for your community… It’s really hard for us to digest and believe that they have not seen any increased profits for the last 15 years.”

On the environmental front, Ciccone pointed out WM’s Environmental Assessment plan doesn’t include real-time monitoring of dust at the site. It was an item the township had been requesting for years to cut down on the dust and smell on site. WM had said it might be possible during the expansion.

The team’s engineer is also concerned about whether WM properly figured out that the extra waste won’t harm the underground leachate system.

And Ciccone reported to council Monday, the company hasn’t been controlling the leachate levels on the site, with monitoring showing two of the four monitors showed more leachate every day of the year than the host agreement spells out. Another monitor shows exceedances 294 days of the year in 2025.

“These monitors had a number of malfunctions throughout the year as well, so the data I would say is not complete,” he said.

The company has told the Technical Review Team there has simply been a lot of rainfall, which Ciccone says is true. However, he says, it is the company’s duty to follow the agreement. “It’s our recommendation that the township voice its opposition to the landfill expansion until these issues are addressed,” he said.

Council agreed and will send its concerns to the ministry. Case is hopeful the ministry will address the issues through the EA process.

“In all honesty, its very frustrating, and again, very disappointing because we have had a working relationship with these guys…Obviously, it’s not always good because we are we get annoyed when we have odour issues and impacts like dust and stuff in our community,” says Case.

“But we’ve always been able to talk about them and try to resolve them. This is the first time in a long, long time where we feel that they’re turning a deaf ear to us,” the mayor says. Unfortunately, we have one card to play to try to get that information…that’s through the legal process.”