Chatham-Kent Council has approved more money to continue its legal fight against York1 Waste Management Solutions over its plans to repurpose a Dresden site into a waste and recycling facility. On Monday, council voted to spend an additional $250,000 in legal expenses from its reserves to contest a York1 lawsuit in Ontario Superior Court on Sept. 21. “I’ve never experienced something that is so unanimous as far as not wanting it there,” said Darrin Canniff, the Chatham-Kent mayor, in an interview with CTV News. “Everyone you speak to, everyone says, ‘No, we don’t want it there.’” The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is now fighting York1 in court after the Ford government’s Bill 5, The Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, carried a specific carveout to allow the Toronto-area company to develop the property at 29831 Irish School Road in Dresden into a waste and recycling facility. The municipality is contesting the company’s claim the site now has legal non-conforming use and therefore doesn’t require land use approvals from the local council to move forward with its plans. “Certainly, from my perspective, this is something that should not be happening in the community — it’s resounding,” said Canniff. The newly approved funds will continue to support external expert advice from Peter Pickfield of Garrod Pickfield on environmental, landfilling, and planning concerns. Sylvain Rouleau and the law firm WeirFoulds have also been contracted to litigate the issue in court on behalf of the municipality, arguing York1 needs to comply to municipal zoning and planning restrictions for the property. Further expert consultation may also be sought, supported with this latest funding boost. The municipality has spent $108,120.99 so far in responding to York1’s proposal on various legal and engineering costs. Destructive impacts In the council resolution, the municipality affirms its opposition to the York1 proposal in part due to the “destructive impacts” the project would have on the community. Canniff points to the site’s proximity to residents as an alarming concern and the truck traffic that could disrupt daily life. The municipality has hired a traffic engineer to study the potential impacts with a final report yet to be released. York1 contends the municipality has misrepresented the project and stresses the site would be used to recycle non-hazardous construction materials, not household waste, through a modernized facility. Canniff, however, says questions remain over the exact plans for the land. “We still don’t know what they’re going to be building there,” said Canniff. “They’ve been vague and saying there’s going to be this or [that]. They have not put out anything as to what they’re doing there.” The project has provoked strong grassroots pushback and brought the municipality to Queen’s Park to oppose the Progressive Conservative legislation paving the way for the redevelopment. “This is a fight with York1,” said Canniff. “If we’re supposed to be partners or we’re supposed to work with them, the first thing you do is sue us, it really does make a big statement as to what the relationship is.” The municipality hoped for a review of the York1 proposal by the Federal Impact Assessment Agency, but that was rejected at the discretion of the agency president. In a separate legal action, The Bkejwanong-Walpole Island First Nation has joined a challenge of Bill 5, which also includes other First Nation opposition to the bill. The municipality has not yet joined that specific action but continues to monitor the situation.
