New sewage plant in East Gwillimbury faces Georgina Island opposition

Yorkregion.com
March 14, 2017
By Simon Martin

Not everyone is on board with the Upper York Sewage Solutions (UYSS) proposal to build a sewage plant in Queensville. The environmental assessment for the project has been in the province’s hands for three years, and the Ministry of the Environment has yet to sign off on the project.

The region made a presentation to East Gwillimbury council this month about the status of the project. Mike Rabeau, director of capital planning and delivery for environmental services, told council the region was told late in 2016 that the project was being reviewed by legal counsel.

Late last week, a spokesperson for the ministry said it was continuing to consult with First Nations to address their concerns with the proposal.

The Chippewas of Georgina Island have routinely voiced their disagreement with the plant that would put effluent into the East Holland River, which runs into Lake Simcoe.

“Lake Simcoe is everyday life (for us) and its water,” Kerry-Ann Charles, environment co-ordinator for the First Nation, said. “We are actually on a boil water advisory and we have been for almost two years because of the water quality of the lake and outdatedness of our water treatment facility.”

Charles said the First Nation does not subscribe to the theory put forth by the region that the UYSS would make the Holland River better. “What about the extra pharmaceuticals and personal care products that sewage plants can’t get rid of?” she said. “We need to do our due diligence for our communities for future generations.”

Charles said studies need to look at the health of Lake Simcoe over a longer length of time. The First Nation was thrilled with the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan because there were supposed to be no new plants allowed on Lake Simcoe. “The plant will put more stress on the lake and more stress on us on being able to access clean drinking water,” Charles said. “There’s absolutely not enough evidence that once this pant is built it’s not going to fail.”

Despite the fact the 2008 Lake Simcoe Protection Act included no new treatment plants being added to the 15 facilities on Lake Simcoe as one of its key regulations, a “Lake Simcoe alternative” employing “innovative wastewater treatment technologies” for servicing growth in the region was put back on the table by the ministry as an option in 2010.

The UYSS is a $535 million project that will accommodate 47 million litres per day additional capacity to service forecasted growth of 34,500 in Aurora, 27,000 in Newmarket and 91,500 in East Gwillimbury under provincial and regional growth plans.

The region says the UYSS will restore and improve the Lake Simcoe watershed through state-of-the-art wastewater treatment, phosphorus offsets and the reuse of reclaimed water as an education, training and research facility.

The ministry is expected to either approve the UYSS, deny it, or approve it with conditions. If the region doesn’t get an answer on the EA soon, the 2024 target for opening would be in jeopardy, Rabeau said.