Waterkeeper asks Ministry to deny Lafarge incineration permits

On February 1, 2006, two notices of proposal for an instrument were loaded to the Environmental Bill of Rights Registry. In both cases, the proponent is Lafarge Canada Inc., located in Loyalist, Ontario. One proposal (#IA04E0466) is for an approval to discharge into the air. The second proposal (#IA03E1902) is for an approval for a waste disposal site. These two proposals are part of the same undertaking: to import and burn tires, bones, plastic, and other waste at Lafarge's cement kiln. This single submission from Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and Gord Downie is a comment on both EBR Registry documents.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper and Gord Downie make the following recommendation:

The Ministry of Environment deny the applications for approval under s. 9 (air) and s. 27 (waste) of the Environmental Protection Act.

In the alternative, we ask that (as a minimum) the Director immediately require that a hearing be held pursuant to Part V of the EPA.

The grounds for our request are as follows:

A. The current applications for approval under s. 9 (air) and s. 27 (waste) mischaracterize this incineration program, thereby circumventing due public process.

B. These same applications are vague and incomplete.

C. Approving this project would undermine provincial policy in the areas of energy and waste.

Read our complete submission in pdf format.