Heather Wright/The Independent

St. Clair Township officials say members of councillors were aware of a new storm water project at Clean Harbors.

And, they say, officials have not yet considered appealing the decision by the Environmental Compliance Approvals Branch of the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks allowing the project to go ahead.

In Oct. 2025, the US-based company filed its application for the project. The technical briefs to install the pond two phases were submitted to the ECA branch in May 2026 and July 2026.

The notice of the project was posted on the Environmental Registry of Ontario Nov. 18, 2025 and closed Jan. 2, 45-days later, as is the usual practice.

The ERO notice says “The pond is to be used as contingency pond and be limited to emergency overflow situations during extreme weather events that exceed the capacity of the previously existing Process Water Pond system or as additional capacity storage of Process Water during ex- tended incinerator maintenance shutdown events.”

Last week, the MECP gave the green light to the pond which will sit on “virgin land” at the site’s northwest corner of Petrolia Line and Telfer Road.

No one had commented on the project and last week, both Mayor Jeff Agar and Councillor Holly Foster said they were not aware of the project.

The Independent requested the documents Clean Harbors provided to the MECP, but were told to seek them through a Freedom of Information Act request.

In response to questions from The Independent, CAO John Rodey said in an email, “The municipality has representatives on Clean Harbor’s Community Liaison Advisory Committee who were made aware of the plans to build a new contingency pond through this Committee.” Foster and Deputy Mayor Steve Miller are the council representatives to the advisory group.

“The municipality did not submit a response to the ERO and to date has not considered an appeal to the Ontario Land Tribunal,” he added. The deadline for appeals has already passed.

Foster said Tuesday she had heard about the project, adding she thought The Independent’s question referenced a different project.

Foster says she feels comfortable with the new storm water management pond project because Clean Harbors has a good record of complying with environmental rules.