Residents here have had their fill – of fill.
In recent weeks, the town of Erin has received numerous letters of concern from residents not only about what might be in the fill being accepted on local properties, but the cumulative impacts of the additional traffic and dust created by trucks hauling the heavy loads down local roads.
On Sept. 3 Anna Spiteri and Dave Dautovich spoke to council. The pair advocated the long-term goal of eliminating fill being brought into the town.
“I’m here with many of my neighbours to advise council of the serious impact to the area of fill haulage,” Spiteri said.
She had concern with a local property owner who she said was filling seven to 10 acres of low-lying or wet lands to facilitate construction of a large business in a quiet rural community – all with no consultation or little regulatory oversight.
She said the filled-in areas are now being considered for construction of large-scale riding arenas.
“The intention appears to be to create a large scale equestrian centre comparable to the Angelstone operation,” Spiteri said. She questioned whether the town is properly monitoring fill that is being brought in to the community.
She said there are potential environmental impacts from countless town sites where commercial and industrial fill are being dumped.
Spiteri said there are also concerns about this being done with little concern for the enormous impact on area residents.
For her, the red flags go up when she hears that on some properties there is no idea of how much fill is coming in, or where it is coming from.
Haulage trucks travel along Wellington Road 50, which in some parts of Erin is a hilly, gravel road, with some very curves she described as dangerous.
“There, the speed limit is 80km/h, an unreasonable speed for anyone travelling. It was not designed as a truck haulage route,” Spiteri said. “This situation is intolerable for residents of Wellington Road 50 and the Third Line.
“It has forced us to mobilize with a petition. In the past few months, we have experienced up to 150 trucks per day.”
She added the environmental impact of covering large acreages has not been monitored. Spiteri noted in the area where she lives, six fill operations have been, or are, taking place.
“At least two of them were shut down due to environmental issues. As long as the GTA continues to build, it will need a place to dump its fill.”
That creates tempting opportunities for landlords to make fast money, but it results in long-term negative impacts to the community, she opined.
“Erin needs a tougher fill bylaw, and we need it to be rigorously enforced.”
She asked council for a list of all permitted fill sites or those in the process of making an application to import fill. She also wanted the chemical analysis of the fill materials to be made available to the public.
Dautovich said the rumoured value of accepting fill is $60 per truckload.
“There is no doubt with the development of Brampton and Mississauga moving towards us, they need a place to dump their garbage.” He contended the town’s current fill bylaw is not sufficient.
“It is a weak bylaw and even as a weak bylaw it is not being administrated properly.” He suspected fill is already being placed in wetland areas.
Dautovich said if Erin gets contaminated and this information goes viral, “good luck with the good reputation of the town.”
Mayor Lou Maieron said one of the reasons council was in-camera earlier that night was to get legal advice prior to responding to concerns raised.
“As a result, we cannot address your matters further this evening,” the mayor said.
