Request to waive tipping fees nixed

FORT FRANCES—With a split vote, town council Monday night defeated a recommendation from the Administration and Finance executive committee to waive landfill tipping fees for the purposes of contaminated soil disposal.
The recommendation, made in response to a request from Glenn Witherspoon to waive tipping fees at the landfill to dispose of contaminated soil from Witherspoon’s One Stop, was to allow all local property-owners with contaminated soil to bring it to the landfill, where it would be used for covering material.
The purpose of this would be to encourage the development of commercial properties by providing an incentive to undertake clean-up activities.
Coun. Todd Hamilton, who sits on the Administration and Finance executive committee, noted the town has been receiving free soil for cover from Abitibi-Consolidated for several years now.
As such, the committee figured the town could extend that to all local property owners with contaminated soil meeting Ministry of Environment standards.
But when it came time to vote, it resulted in a tie, thus defeating the motion.
Couns. Hamilton, Tannis Drysdale, and Neil Kabel voted for it while Mayor Dan Onichuk and Couns. John Albanese and Rick Wiedenhoeft voted against it.
(Coun. Roy Avis could not vote due to a declaration of pecuniary interest—he owns property with contaminated soil, namely a garage).
Coun. Wiedenhoeft said he didn’t think the town really needed any more cover material for the landfill, but talked to Environmental and Facilities superintendent Doug Herr for a second opinion.
He told Coun. Wiedenhoeft no shortage of landfill cover was anticipated in the future, and was not sure how much landfill could be stockpiled there at this time.
Based on that, Coun. Wiedenhoeft said he could not agree to open to the landfill to all contaminated soil.
Mayor Onichuk noted Witherspoon’s request said the sale of his property to Loblaws was contingent on the lot being cleaned up, but the sale has since gone through anyway.
“If it moves forward, it’s essentially handing Mr. Witherspoon a cheque,” he noted, referring to the recommendation.
“I thought it was a good idea,” said Coun. Hamilton in an interview Tuesday. “But the other councillors felt we had enough fill from Abitibi.
“But someday, if Abitibi decides they don’t want to give us the fill for free anymore, we’ll have a situation where we’ll have to look at this again,” he warned.
He also reasoned that if the town holds a Household Hazardous Waste Day each year for residents to get rid of oil, paint, and other materials for free, why not allow them to get rid of contaminated soil at the landfill?
Coun. Drysdale, who also sits on the Administration and Finance executive committee, said that to her, the practice of toxic waste disposal goes beyond economic development incentives.
“We have to allow them to get it out of the ground in a safe way,” she remarked.
For his part, Witherspoon said Tuesday afternoon that he wasn’t happy to hear the news—and not only for his own sake.
“I’m very disappointed that the people who voted against it aren’t interested in the future of Fort Frances,” he remarked. “They basically aren’t interested in the development of a new tax base.
“There’s all kinds of properties that could benefit from [getting rid of contaminated soil for free], where the town could really get some real taxes, instead of getting vacant lot taxes,” added Witherspoon.
“Hopefully, the next election we’ll put people in who really want to see the town benefit.”
He also felt that not being allowed to get rid of contaminated soil at no cost is discriminatory against local small businesses while the largest company—Abitibi—will continue to be allowed to dump theirs for free.
(Fort Frances Times)