History of the Brock Township Dump

A dump was established in Brock Township in the 1950s. It is located on a Provincial sensitive wetland called the ‘Gibson Hill Swamp’ which contains the Pefferlaw Brook that flows directly into Lake Simcoe. The dump has no liner, natural or otherwise.

The dump was purchased by Brock Township in 1966 and issued Provisional Certificate of Approval by the Province in 1971.

Durham Regional Municipality ("Durham Region") assumed the dump in 1974 and was initially required to provide a detailed plan of operation and development by June 15, 1975. (It is unclear whether this requirement was part of the 1971 Provisional Certificate of Approval issued to Brock Township.)

A Provisional Certificate of Approval was issued to Durham Region (September 13, 1976), which expired December 31, 1979.

A new Provisional Certificate of Approval to dispose of domestic and commercial waste on the 40.5 ha (100 ac) dump site was issued to Durham Region on August 22, 1980. This CofA has the same approval number as the expired 1976 CofA.

* Amendment to Certificate of Approval (December 13, 1989) allows for a Leaf Composting Facility.

* Amendment to Certificate of Approval (April 5, 1994) allows a recycling depot to be operated at the dump site.

* Amendment to Certificate of Approval (September 12, 1995) allows the collection and transfer of Household Hazardous Waste from the Regional Municipality of Durham.

* Amendment to Certificate of Approval (October 20, 1995), approving the Contingency Plan "relating to the safety precautions and steps to be followed to contain and clean up spills at the Transfer Station."

The dump has an active western area and an inactive eastern area. It has already contaminated the neighbouring farm and is suspected of leaching into the wetlands. The Region has continually ignored their consultant’s (Gartner Lee) recommendations to clean up the site.

A Provincial Officer's Report (October 13, 2006) indicates that recent water monitoring reports reveal dump leachate from the active western area is impacting groundwater and migrating off-site. The leachate includes "elevated concentrations of iron, manganese, hardness and dissolved organic carbon." There are no off-site concentrations revealed in the water monitoring reports that indicate exceedences of Ontario's drinking water quality standards. There is also indication that similar water quality concerns are associated with "seeps" from the eastern inactive area. As a result, Provincial Officer's Order (October 13, 2006) was issued, requiring Remedial Action Plan (due January 21, 2007) and Site Operations Report (due March 30, 2007).

Durham Region, in collaboration with the York Regional Municipality, began an environmental assessment process for an Energy-from-Waste facility after the proposed Terms of Reference were approved by the Ministry of the Environment (March 31, 2006). Durham Region suggests the dump's capacity of 1.7M m3 has not yet been met (suggesting only 0.5M m3 have been already used) and the dump should be the primary receiver of wastes for Durham Region as a contingency plan as Michigan border closes (presumably until EFW facility is up and running). Durham Region cites the current Certificate of Approval's lack of conditions regarding filling rate and waste origins as the basis for this contingency plan.