Understanding the Planning Process

Careful planning is important before starting a project like our Southwestern Landfill Proposal. We will carry out a thorough environmental planning review over a period of several years.  This will involve a great deal of consultation before making a decision about the proposal and seeking government approvals. 

Environmental Assessment (EA)
It is imperative that any business we develop work for the communities in which we operate. Our planning will include an Environmental Assessment (EA) under the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s Environmental Assessment Act. The EA is a public planning process that will look at the need for the proposal, review alternatives to the proposal, and assess those alternatives against a set of social, environmental and economic criteria.  The goal of the EA is to understand the potential effects on public health & safety, the environment and the community.

An EA includes consultation with government agencies (such as the Conservation Authority), Aboriginal communities and the local community (residents, business owners, etc).  Walker Environmental Group has developed a consultation plan that we hope will keep the community engaged and informed about our Southwestern Landfill Proposal during all stages of the EA.  We encourage you to take some time to better understand our proposal and be part of our planning process.

It is very important to us, and to the EA process, that we receive input and ideas from all interested persons about our proposal.  We plan to circulate newsletters, host Open Houses, meet personally with interested persons and neighbours, and create a Community Liaison Committee (click the link for more information about the Community Liaison Committee).


Terms of Reference
The first step in an EA is called the Terms of Reference. The Terms of Reference is a document that will provide a roadmap for the planning process. To develop the Terms of Reference we want, and need to hear from you.  We want to understand the values and perspectives of the Beachville, Centreville, and Ingersoll communities. We need to understand the things that are important to you, what you think about our proposal, and the questions you have so we can develop evaluation criteria and design our studies with your views in mind.

We expect that preparing the Terms of Reference will take up to a year to complete.  This document is very important for our proposal and will need to be completed with input from the community.  The Terms of Reference will be developed with interested community members and will include documentation of what we heard from you. Once complete, the Terms of Reference will be discussed and posted on our project website.  The Terms of Reference will also be submitted to the Ministry of the Environment for review and formal comment.   This comment period will provide an additional opportunity for interested persons to comment on the Terms of Reference directly to the Ministry of the Environment. 

Study Phase
If the Terms of Reference is approved by the Ministry of the Environment, and ultimately the Minister of the Environment, the second stage of the EA begins, the Study Phase.  The approved Terms of Reference will set the requirements for the Environmental Assessment Report for our Southwestern Landfill Proposal. This phase of the EA can take another year (or more) to complete.

During the Study Phase of our Southwestern Landfill Proposal, we will work with a team of independent experts to conduct scientific studies.  The studies will be used to assess the proposed project against a set of social, environmental and economic criteria that the community will have helped to define during the Terms of Reference. Our studies will include topics such as: agriculture, air quality, archaeology, ecology, economics, ground & surface water, land use planning, noise, traffic, social & economic considerations and visual assessments.

Once completed, the Environmental Assessment Report, along with the individual studies, will be shared with the community, posted on our project website and sent to the Ministry of the Environment. The Ministry of the Environment will carry out a comprehensive review by a panel of government experts and provide their review for public comment.  Only then will a decision be made by the Minister of the Environment about the EA. 

If the EA is approved, we will look carefully at the outcome and the market conditions at the time of approval before we decide whether to proceed with our Southwestern Landfill Proposal.  If we decide to proceed with our proposal we will then apply for other necessary government approvals.  We will also continue to consult with interested community members throughout construction and during all of our operations at the site. 

At the end of EA process, if we are operating the Southwestern Landfill, we will seek opportunities to grow a campus of inter-connected businesses at this site.  As with the current proposal, your input will be key to making sure we develop businesses that work for the community.