Notice of approval

Proponent: H. Dodge Haulage Limited
Environmental assessment (EA) file number: EA-02-08-02

Take notice that the period for requesting a hearing, provided for in the Notice of Completion of the ministry Review for the above-noted undertaking, expired on October 17, 2008.

I received no requests for a hearing by the Environmental Review Tribunal before the expiration date.

Having considered the purpose of the Environmental Assessment Act, the approved Terms of Reference, the Environmental Assessment, the ministry Review of the Environmental Assessment and submissions received, I hereby give approval to proceed with the undertaking, subject to conditions set out below.

Reasons

My reasons for giving approval are:

  1. On the basis of the proponent’s Environmental Assessment and the ministry Review, the proponent’s conclusion that, on balance, the advantages of this undertaking outweigh its disadvantages appears to be valid.
  2. The proponent has demonstrated that the environmental effects of implementing the preferred alternative can be appropriately prevented, changed, mitigated or remedied.
  3. On the basis of the proponent’s Environmental Assessment, the ministry Review and the conditions of approval, the construction, operation and maintenance of the undertaking will be consistent with the purpose of the Environmental Assessment Act (section 2).
  4. The Government Review Team has Indicated no outstanding concerns that cannot be addressed through conditions of approval. The public review of the Environmental Assessment did not identify any outstanding concerns.
  5. The submission received after the Notice of Completion of the ministry Review was published is being dealt with through conditions where appropriate. I am not aware of any outstanding issues with respect to this undertaking which suggest that a hearing should be required.

Conditions

The approval is subject to the following conditions:

1. Definitions

For the purposes of these Conditions:

Director
means the Director of the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch.
EAAB
means the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch of the Ministry of the Environment.
EA
means the Environmental Assessment document titled Amended Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Dodge Haulage Limited Landfill Expansion, Espanola Ontario, dated January 2008.
ministry
means the Ministry of the Environment.
PLC
means a Public Liaison Committee.
program
means compliance monitoring program.
proponent
means H. Dodge Haulage Limited.
public record
means the record required by section 30(1) of the Environmental Assessment Act to be maintained for this undertaking.
Regional Director
means the Director of the ministry’s Northern Regional Office.
site
means the H. Dodge Haulage Limited Landfill, in the Town of Espanola.

2. General requirements

  1. The proponent shall comply with the provisions in the EA which are hereby incorporated in this approval by reference except as provided in these conditions and as provided in any other approval or permit that may be issued for the site.
  2. These conditions do not prevent more restrictive conditions being imposed under other statutes.

3. Public record

  1. Where a document is required for the public record, the proponent shall provide two copies of the document to the Director: a copy for filing within the specific public record file maintained for the undertaking and a copy for staff use.
  2. Additional copies of such documents will be provided by the proponent for public access to the:
    1. Regional Director;
    2. Town of Espanola and Town of Gore Bay Municipal Offices; and
    3. Public Liaison Committee, if applicable.
  3. The EAAB file number EA-02-08-02 shall be quoted on the document.
  4. These documents may also be provided through other means as considered appropriate by the proponent.

4. Compliance Monitoring Program as noted in Section 6 of the Amended EA

  1. The proponent shall prepare and submit to the Director for the public record, an EA compliance monitoring program as indicated in section 6 of the AEA.
  2. The program shall be submitted one year from the date of approval of the undertaking, or 60 days before the commencement of construction, whichever is earlier.
  3. The program shall be prepared for the monitoring of the proponent’s fulfillment of the provisions of the EA:
    1. for mitigation measures;
    2. public consultation;
    3. additional studies and work to be carried out; and
    4. all other commitments made during the preparation and review of the EA.
  4. The program must contain an implementation schedule.
  5. A statement must accompany the program when submitted to the Director, indicating that the program is intended to fulfil this condition.
  6. The program, as it may be amended by the Director, must be carried out by the proponent.
  7. The proponent shall make the documentation available to the ministry or its designate upon request in a timely manner when so requested by the ministry during an on-site inspection, audit, or response to a pollution incident report or when information concerning compliance is requested by the ministry.

5. Compliance reporting

  1. The proponent shall prepare an annual compliance report which describes compliance with the conditions of approval set out in this notice and which describes the results of the proponent’s program.
  2. The annual compliance report shall be submitted to the Director for placement on the public record, with the first report being due no later than one year following the submission date of the program, and shall cover all activities of the previous calendar year.
  3. The proponent shall submit annual compliance reports until all conditions set out in this notice are satisfied.
  4. When all conditions have been satisfied, the proponent shall indicate in the annual compliance report that this is its final submission.
  5. The proponent shall retain either on site or in another location approved by the Director, copies of the annual compliance reports for each reporting year and any associated documentation of compliance monitoring activities.
  6. The proponent shall make the documentation available to the ministry or its designate upon request in a timely manner when so requested by the ministry during an on-site inspection, audit, or in response to a pollution incident report or when information concerning compliance is requested by the ministry.

6. Public Liaison Committee

  1. The proponent shall make a reasonable effort to maintain a PLC in respect of the site. The PLC is to serve as the focal point for dissemination, review and exchange of information and monitoring results relevant to the site.
  2. If there is insufficient interest from the public in continuing the existing PLC or establishing and participating in a new committee it may be dispensed with.
  3. If the PLC has been dispensed with, the proponent shall publish a notice in a local newspaper, at least bi-annually, inviting expressions of interest from members of the public in forming the PLC.
  4. The proponent may cease publishing notices required under Condition 6.3 if, after the fifth year of giving sufficient notice, there is insufficient interest among members of the public in continuing or re-establishing the PLC.

7. Complaint protocol

  1. The proponent shall prepare and develop a protocol on how it will deal with and respond to inquiries and complaints received during the construction and operation of the undertaking, including a protocol outlining how it will deal with complaints registered by the Whitefish River First Nation regarding the transportation of waste through its reserve.
  2. The proponent shall submit the complaint protocol to the Director for placement in the public record.
  3. A statement must accompany the complaint protocol when submitted to the Director indicating that the protocol is intended to fulfill this condition.

8. Updated noise assessment

  1. The proponent shall complete an updated noise assessment for the H. Dodge Haulage Landfill expansion.
  2. The proponent shall submit the results of the updated noise assessment described in condition 8.1 to the ministry’s Air and Noise Unit of the EAAB for review, with a copy to the Director, prior to or at the time of the Environmental Protection Act Certificate of Approval application submission.
  3. The proponent shall consider all comments resulting from the ministry’s review of the updated noise assessment.
  4. The updated noise assessment shall also address the points raised in the ministry’s March 31, 2003 memo from the Air and Noise Unit. Specifically, the updated noise assessment shall address the following:
    1. The location of the closest noise sensitive receptors in the immediate vicinity of the site shall be defined in greater detail, indicating whether there are any vacant lands zoned for noise sensitive uses which are closer to the site than the existing homes. If so, these sites must also be assessed for noise impacts.
    2. Confirmation that background sound levels at receptor locations were measured over a one hour time period.
    3. The updated noise assessment shall demonstrate the feasibility of achieving the guideline limits as contained in the Ministry of the Environment Publication NC-232 for stationary noise sources on the site. Sample calculations used in the analysis and evaluation shall be provided.
    4. The percentage of landfill and non-landfill trucks per hour along each of the three sections of the local haul route for existing and future landfill operations shall be provided.
    5. Sample calculations for the average one hour existing traffic noise levels and the worst case one hour traffic noise levels (assuming site has been expanded and operating at its peak) along each section of the local haul route shall be provided.
    6. A table shall be provided that indicates, for each section of the local haul route, the average one hour traffic noise levels, the future worst case one hour traffic noise levels due to the expanded landfill, and the increases in the traffic noise levels.
    7. Recommendations shall be provided to reduce the increases in traffic noise levels, particularly at locations where the increase is greater than five decibels.
    8. The updated noise assessment shall provide recommendations to reduce the audibility of landfill operations at the nearest receptor to the west.
    9. An annual acoustical monitoring/auditing program shall be described in the updated noise assessment
    10. The monitoring/auditing program shall be implemented as described in the updated noise assessment, and the results reported in the Annual Compliance Report.

9. Receiving surface water impact assessment report

  1. The proponent shall complete a receiving surface water impact assessment report and proposed effluent limits for the proposed on-site leachate treatment system.
  2. The proponent shall submit the receiving surface water impact assessment report described in Condition 9.1 to the ministry’s Water and Wastewater Unit in the Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch and Technical Support Section (TSS) in the District Offices for review, prior to submission of the Ontario Water Resources Act (OWRA) Sewage Works Certificate of Approval application.
  3. Based on the review, the proponent shall obtain a review and a recommendation letter from the Supervisor in the TSS on the acceptability of the proposed effluent limits and surface water impact assessment before submitting an OWRA application for approval of the proposed leachate treatment system.

Dated the 29th day of January, 2009 at Toronto.

Original signed by
Minister of the Environment
135 St. Clair Avenue West, 12th floor
Toronto, Ontario
M4V 1P5