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Meeting Dates:

Nov 11th:
7:30pm, Pine Ridge Secondary School (Cafeteria), 2155 Liverpool Rd (north of Finch), Pickering, ON

Oct 19th:
7:30pm, Pickering Council Meeting, Pickering Civic Complex, 1 The Esplande, Pickering, ON

Oct 14th:
10am, Durham Region Works Committee Meeting, 605 Rossland Road E, Whitby, ONT

Sept 21st:
7:30pm, Pickering Council Meeting, Pickering Civic Complex, 1 The Esplande, Pickering, ON,

Sept 9th:
10am, Durham Region Works Meeting, 605 Rossland Road East, Whitby, Ont

Sept 2nd, 2009:
7pm, Stop the Stink Community Meeting, Altona Road Community Church, 1367 Altona Rd, Pickering, Ont

Aug 29th, 2009:
10am, Environmental Rally Against the SEC, Bob Hunter Park,14th Avenue, Markham, Ont

Mar 11, 2009:
Durham Region Council Meeting, 605 Rossland Road E, Whitby, 10am

Mar 4, 2009:
Community Meeting Pineridge High School, 2155 Liverpool Road North, Pickering, 7:30pm

Feb 25, 2009:
Durham Region Works Committee Meeting, 605 Rossland Road E, Whitby, 12pm

Feb 11, 2009:
Community Meeting Pineridge High School, 2155 Liverpool Road North, Pickering, 7:30pm

Jan 21, 2009:
Community Meeting Pineridge High School, 2155 Liverpool Road North, Pickering, 7:30pm

Jan 14, 2009:
Durham Region Works Committee Meeting, 605 Rossland Road E, Whitby, 10am

Jan 12, 2009:
Pickering Executive Council Meeting, Pickering City Hall, 7pm

Jan 7, 2009:
Community Meeting Whitevale Community Centre, 8pm

Dec 18, 2008:
Community Meeting Whitevale Community Centre, 8pm

Dec 3, 2008:
Community Meeting Whitevale Community Centre, 7pm

Nov 30, 2008:
Site Created

THE FIGHT CONTINUES!!! OPPOSE YORK REGION'S PLAN TO BUILD AN ODOUR CONTROL FACILITY ON PICKERING'S BORDER !!!

BREAKING NEWS...

This Friday, Nov 20th 2009 is the deadline to comment on York and Durham Region's Environment Assessment Report on Southeast Collector Trunk Sewer and the Ministry of Environment's review of this report.

David Estrin, Ontario's pre-eminent environmental lawyer, has provided his opinion that York and Durham have violated numerous requirements under the Environmental Assessment Act. You can read his letter here. But the Ministry of Environment still plans to move forward with the approvals process.

If you are a Pickering resident, please download this letter here and email it to minister.moe@ontario.ca, dmguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org and charlene.cressman@ontario.ca

If you are resident of Ontario and are worried that York Region's plan to partially treat and discharge up to 1 BILLION Litres of sewage PER DAY into Lake Ontario and impact our drinking water, please download this letter here and email it to minister.moe@ontario.ca; dmguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org and charlene.cressman@ontario.ca

(full addresses and contact information for the Minister of Environment, Dalton McGuinty and Charlene Cressman) can be found below.

In other news, on October 19, 2009, Council for City of Pickering passed a motion to take legal action against York Region for not treating Pickering residents fairly with regards to the Southeast Collector Trunk Sewer. On November 9, 200 , City of Pickering filed legal papers with the court to commence the action and have since served these papers on York Region.

Click here to view the revised EA document

Hello Everyone,

First off, thank you for showing up en masse to the last Pickering council meeting. The show of force from the community is what got Council to look out for the best interests of the residents of City of Pickering. Council had an in camera session (i.e. discussions in private with their legal counsel) and stated that they had taken a vote to judicially review the approval of this sewer project if the City's concerns were not addressed properly. However, due to public pressure and the opinion provided by our lawyer, Mr. Estrin, Council took an additional step and declared that York was in breach of the agreement that York had with the City of Pickering to treat Pickering residents fairly. Furthermore, if York did not correct this breach (which would include withdrawing the EA) by October 30, then Council will take legal action. That means if York doesn't stop the EA by this deadline and listen and change the way this project is being handled, then Pickering will go to court and have a judge declare that York breached the agreement with Pickering. If that case is successful, then York Region no longer has Pickering's co-operation to construct the pipe here. Once successful, the lawyer will then ask the court to stop the MOE from approving the project until York corrects its breach.

On August 21st York and Durham Region submitted the revised Environment Assessment to the Ministry of Environment without going back to Durham Regional Council. The intent or spirit of the Durham Regional Regional motion to place the Odour Control Facility into York Region where it can not detrimentally effect any residents in Pickering or Durham has not been meet.

Regional Chair Roger Anderson has signed off on the motion without going back to our regional representatives - Durham Regional Council. He should be representing Durham residents! This undermines the democratic process and should never be allowed to happen. The timing of the submission during the summer vacation period was intentional so that he could slide it though before the public become aware.

We require people to attend our next Stop the Stink meeting to show the community our continued support.

OUR PROTEST AND FIGHT WILL CONTINUE!

Below is a list of Politicians that supported the motion NOT to have the OCF built in Durham Region. We need their continued support to ensure they DO NOT change their vote by allowing York Region to place the OCF in Durham.

Let these politicians know that they should STAND FIRM and continue to support Durham residents! Do not give into pressure from York Region!!!

This map shows the new proposed location of the control facility along with the preferred sewer route (click on map for larger image).

The Fight Is NOT Over

We would like to thank Durham Regional Councilors who voted 23-0 to recommend the Odour Control Facility be built in York Region. However, the fight is not over. Just as we expected, Project Managers and Engineers are not putting in a strong effort to find a viable location in York Region, even though there are feasible sites. The YORK people have come back to Durham Region and are insisting that offensive infrastructure such as fans and a metering site be built in our community. Although our Durham Councilors have made the correct decision, we EXPECT York Region to push back and ask them to change their minds. That is why we need our community to stay involved, keep on top of Council meetings and engage with our politicians to let me know YORK SEWAGE ODOUR BELONGS IN YORK REGION! THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER UNTIL THE OCF AND OTHER OFFENSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE IS BUILT IN YORK

The Smell

Wind studies from the Region claim air flow travels South East over this facility, most of the time. Treated air will be expelled via a 40 ft ventilation stack. But what about the days the winds blow south? And for residents south of the Finch Avenue Community will emissions from the 40ft stack reach your neighbourhood ?

Why This Affects You

This is a 25 acre proposal, with a Sewage Metering site. This is not a small project by any means. It will be a permanent fixture and has the potential to grow in size. The technology is new and relatively unproven. No one can guarantee this facility will not emit foul odours. Other Odour Control Facilities constantly break down, smell and get little attention from the Region. Do you want York's sewage in Pickering?

What Engineers Say

Engineers have told our community that this project can be built elsewhere, away from our families. They can build the Odour Control Facility and the metering site at an alternative location and still make it work. But these same engineers haven't listened to the public outcry and offered any alternative sites further into York Region. Can we trust Engineers that want to build an Odour Control Facility on Townline beside our community? Our community wants the best people on this project. We want Engineers that can provide safe, reliable alternatives for our community. If NASA Engineers can put a man on the moon, why can't Municipal Engineers design an Odour Control Facility in York Region? Tell Durham Region Councilors we want these engineers to design an OCF, metering site and fans that will work far in York Region, or to hire engineers that can design one.

The AG Preserve

Infrastructure such as fans and a metering site are proposed to be built on our Environmentally protected AG Preserve. This land is protected by the Government and is for agricultural use only. The McGuinty Goverment fought hard to legislate protection for this land. We need to tell Dalton McGuinty and Environment Minister Gerretsen that their hard work is about to be destroyed. Let your local MPPS Joe Dickson and Wayne Arthurs know too, they speak for us. This Grade A farmland is about to be turned into York's cesspool.

PICKERING: York's Dumping Ground

The Beare Landfill. The Brock Dump. A proposed incinerator to burn York's garbage. Now we have to treat their sewage gas too?. Enough is enough! STAND UP FOR PICKERING AND YOUR FAMILY! It is time that other communities take responsibility for their own waste projects. Why should Pickering continue to be the dumping ground for other Regions? We as Durham citizens are taking all the risk, while York is receiving all the benefit. TAKE ACTION TODAY AND WRITE DURHAM REGIONAL COUNCILORS, THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND YOUR LOCAL MPPs, Wayne Arthurs & Joe Dickson !!!

Media

Move The Pipe

Engineers argue that the proposed OCF location is the best place for this project, because of the slope of the land. But what about Durham residents only meters away from this facility, metering site and fans? Don't these people matter to you? Is it always about the least expensive route and saving developer's money for this project? They did contribute $400 Million of the $500 Million needed for this project, right? So how can Engineers and Developers put a price on our children and loved ones that are now in the path of risk? WE ASK ENGINEERS TO MOVE THE PIPE AWAY FROM OUR HOMES! There are other alternatives to place the SEC Trunk Sewer pipeline. If you care about the Residents of Pickering, move the Sewer Pipe away from our residential area and find a more suitable place to put York Region's Odour Control Facility. Don't jeopardize established neighbourhoods in Pickering to save money for a specific pipeline route. Find a different route and let the developers pay for it! WE DEMAND THAT IF YOU CAN'T MOVE THE ODOUR CONTROL FACILITY AND OFFENSIVE INFRASTRUCTURE FAR INTO YORK REGION, THEN MOVE THE PIPE!!!

What You Need To Do

Most residents agree:

Send your objections via email or mail to the following:

Charlene Cressman
Ministry of the Environment
Environmental Assessment and Approvals Branch
Floor 12A
2 St Clair Avenue West
Toronto ON M4V1L5
Tel: (416) 314-8221
Fax: (416) 314-8452
Charlene.Cressman@ontario.ca

The Honourable Premier Dalton McGuinty
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Rm 281, Main Legislative Building, Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1A4
Tel: (416) 325-1941
Fax: (416) 325-3745
dmcguinty.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org

The Honourable John Gerretsen
Minister of the Environment
12th Floor, 135 St. Clair Avenue West
Toronto, Ontario
M4V 1P5
Tel: (416) 314-6790
Fax: (416) 314-7337
jgerretsen.mpp@liberal.ola.org

To email all Durham Regional Councilor's click here

Roger Anderson - Regional Chair
Regional Headquarters
605 Rossland Rd East
P.O. Box 623
Whitby, Ont L1N 6A3
chair@region.durham.on.ca

City of Oshawa Municipal Office
50 Centre St. S.
Oshawa ON. L1H 3Z7
Phone: 905-725-7351
Mayor John Grey
jgray@oshawa.ca

Councilor John Henry
jhenry@oshawa.ca

Councilor April Cullen
acullen@oshawa.ca

Councilor Joe Kolodzie
jkolodzie@oshawa.ca

Councilor Robert Lutczyk
rlutczyk@oshawa.ca

Councilor John Neal
jneal@oshawa.ca

Councilor Brian Nicholson
bnicholson@oshawa.ca

Councilor Nester Pidwerbecki
npidwerbecki@oshawa.ca

Town of Whitby Municipal Office
575 Rossland Rd. E.
Whitby ON. L1N 2M8
Phone: 905-668-5803

Mayor Pat Perkins
council@whitby.ca

Councilor Joe Drumm
council@whitby.ca

Councilor Gerry Emm
council@whitby.ca

Councilor Don Mitchell
council@whitby.ca

Town of Ajax Municipal Office
65 Harwood Ave. S.
Ajax ON. L1S 2H9
Phone: 905-683-4550
Email: info@townofajax.com
Web: www.townofajax.com

Mayor Steve Parish
steve.parish@townofajax.com

Councilor Scott Crawford
scott.crawford@townofajax.com

Councilor Colleen Jordan
colleen.jordan@townofajax.com

Township of Brock Municipal Office
1 Cameron St. E., P.O. Box 10
Cannington ON. L0E 1E0
Phone: 705-432-2355
brock@townshipofbrock.ca

Mayor Larry O'Connor
loconnor@townshipofbrock.ca

Councilor John Grant
jgrant@townshipofbrock.ca

Municipality of Clarington Municipal Office
40 Temperance St.
Bowmanville ON. L1C 3A6
Phone: 905-623-3379

Mayor Jim Abernethy
mayor@clarington.net

Councilor Mary Novak
mnovak@clarington.net

Councilor Charlie Trim
ctrim@clarington.net

Township of Uxbridge Municipal Office
51 Toronto St., S., P.O. Box 190
Uxbridge ON. L9P 1T1
Phone: 905-852-9181

Mayor Bob Shepherd
bshepherd@town.uxbridge.on.ca

Councilor Howie Herrema
hherrema@town.uxbridge.on.ca

Township of Scugog Municipal Office
Box 780, 181 Perry St.
Port Perry ON  L9L 1A7
Phone: 905-985-7346 or 905-985-7393

Mayor Marilyn Pearce
http://www.township.scugog.on.ca/mayor.15.php

Councilor Jim McMillen
http://www.township.scugog.on.ca/regional-councillor.71.php

Wayne Arthurs
Pickering-Scarborough East, Liberal MPP
Frost South Building
7 Queen's Park Cresent
Toronto, Ont M7A 1Y7
Tel: (416) 325-3581
Fax: (416) 325-3453
warthurs.mpp@liberal.ola.org

Joe Dickson
Ajax-Pickering, Liberal MPP
Rm 211, Main Legislative Bldg
Toronto ON M7A 1A2
Tel: (416) 325-1182
Fax: (416) 325-1143
jdickson.mpp@liberal.ola.org

Pickering Councilors:

The Corporation of the City of Pickering
One the Esplanade
Pickering, Ont L1V 6K7
Main Switchboard (905) 420-2222

David Pickles
City Councilor, Ward 3
Tel (905)426-5442
Tel (905)420-4605
dpickles@cityofpickering.com
www.davidpickles.com

Rick Johnson
Regional Councilor Ward 3
Tel (905)420-4605
rjohnson@cityofpickering.com

Bonnie Littley
Regional Councilor Ward 1
Tel (905) 420-4605
blittley@cityofpickering.com

Bill Mclean
Regional Councilor Ward 2
(905) 420-4605
bmclean@cityofpickering.com

Dave Ryan
Mayor
mayor@cityofpickering.com

What Can I Do ?

We are looking for people to help us get our message out. If you are interested in volunteering please email us at stopthestink@yahoo.ca. Stop the Stink Signage is available for purchase. Post a sign on your lawn and show your support.

Residents Letters

Dear Minister:

I write to comment on the Southeast Collector Trunk Sewer Final EA Report submitted by AECOM and dated November 2008. Specifically, I will comment on the proposed Odour Control Facility to be located in Pickering.

Durham Region, and Pickering in particular, has done more than its share of accommodating the needs and demands of its neighbours. Durham is home to the Pickering and Darlington Nuclear Generating Stations which supply power to much of the province and we accept the associated risks and obligations. We recently agreed to house waste incineration facilities servicing both Durham and York. The Southeast Collector Trunk Sewer will provide York with access to the Duffins Creek Water Pollution Control Plant - in Pickering. We take York's garbage and we will take their sewage. It's time that York Region took some responsibility for some of its own waste facilities and there is no reason to even consider permitting York to vent the odour from the Trunk Sewer in Durham.

The SEC EA proposes to locate the Odour Control Facility (a very misleading name - it doesn't control odour, it releases odour) on the west side of Altona Road, between Finch and Taunton in the Duffins Rouge Agricultural Preserve. I know, Minister Gerretson, that you are very familiar with this area and I assure you the residents greatly appreciate your efforts as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in protecting this land.

The proposed OCF location is within 300 meters of the 79 residence Cherrywood West subdivision and only a kilometer or so onto the Durham side of the Townline. Though sites within York were identified in the preliminary review, no sites within York were even considered, formally, once the location process was started.

The engineers who prepared the EA have acknowledged that the OCF could be located in York. The preferred sewer route travels along 14th Avenue in Markham through virtually uninhabited lands owned by the Province before entering Durham and that area would seem to be at least a possible location for the OCF.

At the Pickering Executive Committee meeting on January 12, 2009, David Beattie of AECOM confirmed that the Shaft 11 location, in this area, would be suitable and functional from an engineering perspective. The only issue seems to be potentially higher construction costs and design changes. Given that the project is funded by private developers in York (80% - through development charges) and by York Region (20%) there is no reason whatsoever that Durham should assume the risks and obligations of hosting the OCF in Durham, near Durham residences. If it costs developers slightly more in charges for each additional unit of sprawl to cover the true cost of a responsible sewage treatment system, so be it. Given York's planned growth of 600,000 residents and assuming an average of one new residential unit per 2.5 residents, each $1,000,000.00 in increased construction cost translates into just $4.16 per new unit.

Even more important than the monetary cost, York must bear some social responsibility for at least a small portion of its own waste product.

York Region and its experts and consultants will claim that this is a tempest in a teapot. There isn't a problem; they're using the best technology and we're all worried for nothing. There won't be any smell at all and they'll hide the facility with landscaping. Even if that were true, it would be irrelevant. York Region's sewage odour facility can be in York and so it must be in York. Durham should not be forced to accept responsibility for all aspects of York's waste and all the problems which could go along with it.

But the fact is that the consultant's assurances aren't trustworthy. Their own materials state that the facility will filter 90% of the sulphur odour - so 10% will escape. The same materials say the residents "shouldn't" be able to smell the gases released. Shouldn't is very different from an assurance it will not happen. The consultants conducted wind direction studies to determine where the released gases would be dispersed. Why? If there is no risk of odour or release of dangerous chemicals, what difference does wind direction make?

Consultation with the people affected by this facility has not been well conducted. Irrespective of the list of initiatives cited by the consultants, most residents of Cherrywood and Cherrywood West were unaware that the proponents planned to release filtered sewage gases into the air near their homes. That's the point. Flyers with colour maps showing the entire project and indicating a small facility to control (ie hold and restrain) odour might look very nice, but they do not effectively notify the people reading them that sewage fumes are to be vented into their neighbourhood. That's what the proponents needed to tell residents. They needed to point to the cornfield and tell each resident: "We intend to release filtered gases from millions of liters of untreated sewage right over there. What do you think about that?"

Notice isn't about how many times you say very little - it's about how much you tell people, effectively. In that regard the consultants failed badly.

Odour, noise, reliability and whether the technology is 'proven' are all issues over which there is continued debate. Even the proponents speak of 90% filtration, 'non-detectable' odour levels, 'relatively little' noise, stand-by systems in case of failure and 'new' (ie untested over time) technologies. These terms suggest good but imperfect results. More importantly, they're 'best case' scenarios. As works facilities age and municipal budgets tighten and maintenance becomes an issue this facility will work less and less effectively. The technology has existed for less than 10 years. We know that the current facility in Pickering was once the best technology. It now fails regularly and it stinks. Ashbridges Bay is another disastrous example.

The proponents have been promising a visit to existing facilities for months with no progress. At the Executive Committee meeting when Pickering and Durham Region Councilor Johnson asked about the possibility of meeting neighbours of those facilities we were told, for the first time, that we should 'keep in mind' that the existing facilities do not have a secondary system of polishers. The implication is clear - the new bio-filter technology we're told is 'proven', now needs a secondary polishing system. That combination, it appears, has not been in use anywhere for any length of time. Durham cannot agree to be first to try this technology, for the benefit of York.

In terms of property values, there is no question they will be affected by the location of the OCF. To suggest it will be disguised as a brick farmhouse is insulting. Among other things, the 40 to 60 foot smokestack might give it away. Or perhaps the inevitable chain link fence, parking lot or service vehicles. While the residents may be able to recover some of that lost value through claims for injurious affection or in nuisance (subject to how the land transfer is conducted and other variables), that cannot be preferable to moving the facility to uninhabited lands in York Region.

At the very least, the proponents should have considered alternative OCF locations in York Region. That they didn't is inexcusable and a significant failure of the EA process. The cost issue is not of concern to Durham and, in any case, no one has bothered to even determine what that cost would be. Perhaps it could even be completely offset by the savings related to the cost of purchasing the necessary private lands in Pickering if the Province is cooperative in providing the provincially owned land at Shaft 11.

The City of Pickering has asked that the Ministry of the Environment re-examined the location of the OCF with an eye to moving it to York Region. Durham Region is considering a Works Committee recommendation that it do the same.

I, and most residents of Pickering, agree. I am asking that the Ministry of the Environment reject the proposed location of the OCF as set out in the Final EA Report and require the proponents to move it to a suitable location in York Region.

Thank you for your consideration.



Register to Speak at Pickering Council Meeting

Request for delegation status are to be sent to the Committee Coordinator at lroberts@cityofpickering.com or by fax at 905.420.9685 or by dropping off the request at City Hall.

Big Pipe Alternatives

Download the attachments (doc1, doc2) to understand why York's sewage plan is bad for us all.