Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario’s Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks Jeff Yurek introduced a new bill June 3 to halt an environmental assessment for the Upper York Sewage Solutions Plant.
Bill 306: York Region Wastewater Act states the minister will not make any decision regarding the assessment, which was originally submitted in 2014 but has remained unapproved by successive governments.
Instead, Yurek says the province will establish an expert panel to review sewage solutions in the region.
“Many years have passed since this environmental assessment began,” Yurek said in the Legislature. “This government wants to ensure that we have the most up-to-date information on the environmental, social and financial impacts of alternatives to provide wastewater services appropriately.”
The $715-million Upper York Sewage Solutions plant at East Gwillimbury has been stalled for years. Opponents to the project say it will impact the Lake Simcoe watershed. The Town of Georgina and Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation have voiced concern.
If approved, York Region would be the first municipality in Canada to adopt leading-edge microfiltration and reverse-osmosis wastewater treatment technology to turn wastewater into purified, clean water.
Treated water will either flow into the East Holland River or, after further review and regulatory approval, would be recycled and sent to water reuse approved sites for potential irrigation.
To accomplish this, the proposed Upper York Sewage Solutions Project includes:
A Water Reclamation Centre containing leading-edge treatment technology in the Town of East Gwillimbury.
A Total Phosphorus Off-setting Program to further remove phosphorus from other sources within the Lake Simcoe watershed.
York Region proposes to retrofit several existing stormwater management ponds and use low-impact development technologies within the Lake Simcoe watershed to remove three kilograms of phosphorus for every one kilogram of additional phosphorus the Water Reclamation Centre discharges to the watershed above a threshold of 124 kilograms per year.
In March 2018, the province issued a Declaration Order exempting the York Durham Sewage System forcemain twinning and pumping station modification work from the requirements of the Environmental Assessment Act.
According to Yurek’s Bill introduced on the last sitting day of the Legislative session, the delay is needed to address “a variety of areas, including land-use planning, wastewater infrastructure, and … key stakeholders like our Indigenous communities that will be affected,” Yurek said.