Community members gather to oppose waste incineration project

Community members gather to oppose waste incineration project

Around 100 people gathered at the Campbell’s Bay RA Hall on Saturday (March 2) for an information session opposing the waste incineration project that is being explored by MRC Pontiac. The idea to build a facility in the area to incinerate the Ottawa region’s waste has been spearheaded by Warden Jane Toller, and council voted last year to spend $120,000 on a preliminary business plan from Deloitte. Several citizens groups have voiced their opposition to the project at council meetings and on social media.

The featured speaker of the event was Dr. Paul Connett, a retired professor of chemistry, prominent opponent of water fluoridation, and proponent of the “zero waste” movement. Other speakers included Linda Gasser and Wendy Bracken, community activists who opposed the waste incineration project in Durham-York, as well as Liz Benneian, a former journalist and environmental activist. The meeting was organized and chaired by Judy Spence, who identified herself as a naturopathic doctor and registered nurse.

Connett’s presentation focused on the dangers of various chemicals produced by waste incineration. He also spoke about his experiences opposing waste incineration projects in the US and Canada. Gasser and Bracken went over their experience opposing the Durham-York Energy Centre, which Toller has used as an example of what could be built in the Pontiac. A group of local elected officials and staff toured the site back in 2022. The presentations were via Zoom and lasted roughly two hours, followed by a question and answer period.

Jennifer Quaile, a councillor from Otter Lake and member of the MRC’s waste management committee, said that she while there was some new information that she learned at the meeting, it mostly validated her previous research on the subject.

She added that there were lessons that Pontiacers could learn from communities where these waste incinerators have been built, such as Durham-York.

Toller was in attendance at the meeting and said that while she was in favour of pursuing zero waste, she questioned what was to be done with the waste that isn’t diverted from landfill through composting, recycling or other means.

“Is it possible, using zero waste where every individual has to participate, that we will never have to put anything in landfill?” she said. “Because by my calculations you’ll still have about 35-40% and we need a solution that’s better than landfill.”

Connett responded by saying that Toller was missing the point, and said that the question wasn’t whether the MRC should reduce its waste output, but whether it should build a facility to incinerate the Ottawa region’s waste.

“Tonight, the issue is do the people of Pontiac want a massive incinerator?” he said, to which the crowd responded with an emphatic “No.”