Neighbours of the Hanover-Walkerton landfill site made their voices heard at a public meeting in Walkerton Monday evening.
The meeting was held so residents could air their concerns on a zoning amendment needed for the proposed expansion of the landfill.
Concerned that the agricultural area to be re-zoned “waste disposal” is too large for the planned expansion, residents asked instead that the mandatory buffer zone surrounding the landfill be called “green space” or “reforestation”.
Coun. Chris Peabody then put forward a motion asking Brockton council to defer passing a motion on the zoning amendment until the Environmental Assessment is approved. The motion carried.
Staff and engineers were instructed to change the map and rezone the buffer zone green space with instructions to plant trees.
“The fact that they (engineers working on the draft EA) were asking for so much more land created suspicions and ill-will,” Peabody said after the meeting. “In taking that land back we’ll hopefully create some good will.”
Farmer Don Waechter, who currently rents some of the land in question from the Town of Hanover, said re-zoning those lots for waste disposal, when no garbage is planned for that area, is a waste itself.
“That’s good land and you’re going to zone it waste disposal. I think there’s injustice here, and we are very much against this,” he said.
Other residents were concerned that if the extra land, totalling 234.5 acres and not 59 acres as neighbours were told earlier, is zoned for waste disposal now, it may be used for that purpose down the road.
“I’m urging the councillors to think about our children and grandchildren,” said Marl Lakes resident Ray Hughes. “This area is too large; 600 metres from Marl Lakes? This can’t happen.”
His neighbour Rick Kalte agreed.
“You’ve got the Marl Lakes here, the Saugeen River, all these clay areas, I find that really scary,” said Kalte.
Project engineer Brad Pryde said concerns over water safety have already been raised, and are addressed in the draft EA. Ministry of Environment officials have to approve the EA before the expansion can move forward, said Pryde.
“We spent three-quarters of a million dollars has been spent on various studies and presented the results to the Ministry. Indications are they are satisfied, from an environmental prospective,” he said.
The proposed landfill expansion to the west calls for an engineered site with an underground liner, leachate collection system and monitoring wells. Plans are for several ‘cells’ to be developed as required, extending the landfill’s use for a minimum of 20 years.

The total estimated cost is $6 million, with half that amount required to get the first phase up and operating. The present site will reach its capacity in 18 to 24 months.
Pryde also addressed neighbours’ concerns over things like noxious odours and nuisance seagulls, explaining there are plans in place to deal with these types of issues.
Residents continued to return to the matter of the buffer zone, questioning why it has to be so large.
Hanover Coun. Peter Hambley, who sits on the landfill committee, said engineers were following Ministry guidelines when they calculated the area to be rezoned.
“I will agree completely this is not a very good place for a landfill – it’s probably the worst place in the province for a landfill – but starting from scratch would be tougher,” he said.
“My daughter and grandchildren live at Marl Lakes and I don’t have any concerns about their water,” he added.
Marl Lake resident Huguette de Repentigny said she is concerned, and she’s not the only one.
“This is the heart of the Saugeen River. Now we know about the disaster in Walkerton and we’re ready to extend a dump towards a lake? It’s so sad for the environment,” she said.
On Brockton council’s direction, the engineers will now go back to their maps and relabel the buffer zones as green space instead of waste disposal.
Pryde said he’s curious to see whether the Ministry accepts that terminology when the draft EA is submitted in mid-August.