A 16-year battle to shut down a waste collection and disposal site at 2021 Four Mile Creek Rd., being waged by a group of neighbouring Niagara-on-the-Lake residents, will return to court in late November.
The law firm representing 17 applicants filed a contempt of court order in July against NOTL bylaw supervisor Erin Montanaro, the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Lukshana (Lucky) Kumarage, president of a company called 250 Ontario.
250 Ontario owns the site, having purchased it in 2016, five years after the previous owners Vandermeer Greenhouses went into receivership.
The court order claims a Nov. 8, 2018 decision by the Normal Farm Practices and Protection Board to shut down an anaerobic digester and waste collection operation at the location has never been enforced, though one of the applicants, Charlene Quevillon, a neighbour to the digester, says it hasn’t been in operation since 2018.
Quevillon is frustrated with the time it has taken for either level of government to act on the digester’s dismantling and is afraid without anyone enforcing the stop order, the property owner will one day start it up again.
An anaerobic digester is a system that converts manure and agri-food byproducts into electrical power.
Neighbours claim that when operational, it is a source of loud noise, vibrations, horrible odours and attracts rodents.
While the contempt charge was filed this year, the case dates back to 2008.
It was at that time the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake passed a bylaw to grant a site plan for the digester system to be built on the location.
The following year, in 2009, the Ontario Ministry of Environment approved a request to have the property converted to a waste disposal site.
This is when neighbouring residents took action.
They say the operation didn’t constitute normal farm practices and since it was collecting waste from outside its operations, it should be considered a commercial site and barred from being located on agricultural lands.
Lawyers for the residents say they also believe the town is in contradiction of clauses in the site plan bylaw that go beyond the normal farm practices charge.
“The bylaw contains a provision that requires the owner to shut down and decommission the (anaerobic digester) system if it has not produced power in a year,” said Paul Marshall, a lawyer from the firm of Marshall Kirewskie who is representing the residents.
But yet, it remains on-site.
In a copy of a bylaw passed June 2, 2008, approving the digester, section 14.2 states, “If the anaerobic digester is not operational within one (1) year from the time it ceased producing power, the owner agrees, at its own expense, to commence the decommissioning and removal of the digester.”
“I haven’t had windows open for years because of the smell,” she told The Lake Report, adding she is dumbfounded by the disregard shown by the town and provincial officials.
“They’re not stepping forward, stepping up to resolve the issue as they’ve been told to do,” she said.
“I feel that they’re wasting the court’s time and wasting the finances of the citizens of Ontario.”
The town of Niagara-on-the-Lake refused to comment on the issue.
“The matter related to 2021 Four Mile Creek Rd. is currently before the courts, and it is an ongoing legal issue,” said a statement from town spokesperson Lauren Kruitbosch.
“Therefore, we are unable to provide any comments or conduct an interview at this time.”
Kumarage did not respond to requests for comment, and the Ontario Ministry of Environment declined to comment.
The case will be heard in Hamilton at the John Sopinka Courthouse on Nov. 26.