Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Over a 25-year period beginning in 1985, politicians, bureaucrats and experts worked together to establish a municipal waste landfill site on a section of farmland in the County of North Simcoe, Ontario. The proposed 50-acre site, located in Tiny Township approximately 40 kilometres northwest of Barrie, was met with wide opposition and a campaign known as “Stop Dump Site 41” was launched. Area resident Stephen Ogden, recognized as the leader of the campaign, represented the group opposing the location and attended approximately 180 environmental assessment hearings pertaining to the proposed site. The campaign reached a successful conclusion in 2010.
A few years precipitating the search for the new site, a private site known as the Pauze Dump, located in Tiny Township, was identified as a source of drinking water contamination in the area, the cause being associated with legal and illegal dumping of industrial waste. Six communities in the County of North Simcoe subsequently came together to form the North Simcoe Waste Management Association (NSWMA), with a goal of finding a new waste landfill site.
The efforts of the NSWMA resulted in the selection of the location known as Site 41 in the southern part of Tiny Township. In 1989, an application for this site was rejected after 69 days of hearings by the Environmental Assessment Board. The NSWMA challenged the decision through the Lieutenant Governor in Council; an “Order in Council” was subsequently issued, allowing the proponent an opportunity to produce more evidence. In 1996, the Joint Board, after 110 days of additional hearings, approved the site. One of the approval conditions was that a Community Monitoring Committee (CMC) was to be created to oversee the development and operation of the site. The design and operational plans were approved by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and a Certificate of Approval spelling out the rules of operation was issued. The County of Simcoe took over the responsibility for waste management for the entire County and this resulted in the elimination of the NSWMA. Through the actions of the CMC, the County and the MOE were obligated to respond to all concerns raised by citizens of the County.
On 31 October 2007, the County announced plans to open the new landfill site in 2009. Community resistance continued to build. First Nations opposed the site, along with many others including Maude Barlow, internationally known as an advocate of human right to water and also then national Chair of the Council of Canadians. First Nations, farmers, cottagers, and other citizens held protests opposite the proposed site and through a march to Queen’s Park and confrontations with police led to charges and arrests.
Under the weight of public pressure, the County of Simcoe passed a one-year moratorium in August 2009. A month later, the plan to build Site 41 was voted down by Simcoe County Council. In May 2010, the County asked the MOE to revoke the MOE Certificate of Approval and this request was granted. The County took action to ensure that the area known as Site 41 is never to be developed as a landfill or to have any associated use. The lands are now in private ownership and once again are being farmed.