Former Georgina mayor raises stink over Upper York Sewage Solution plant

Local regional reps not speaking up for Georgina residents over UYSS: Grossi

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 8, 2018
Heidi Riedner

Former Georgina mayor Rob Grossi had some choice words this week for both the Upper York Sewage Solution (UYSS) and the municipality’s two regional representatives -- Mayor Margaret Quirk and Coun. Naomi Davison -- on the heels of a statement from the region last week.

The region’s chair of environmental services, City of Vaughan Regional Coun. Mario Ferri, said the province's continuous delay in approving the UYSS’ environmental assessment is not only jeopardizing the region’s ability to service future growth, but is also impacting the region’s ability to alleviate inherent sewage system risks to its collection system servicing residents in the Town of Newmarket.

Grossi, who sat for more than a decade as Georgina’s mayor and one of its two regional councillors, said the proposal that will dump over 40 million litres of treated sewage daily into Lake Simcoe to service growth in Aurora, Newmarket and East Gwillimbury should never receive provincial approval. He wonders why Quirk and Davison aren’t raising a more public stink over such an important issue for area residents.

“It seems they are more concerned about their profile on Facebook than speaking up on behalf of their residents, but it’s high time they stood up and spoke for the people they represent,” Grossi said.

On that note, Grossi said that doesn’t mean he's putting his name in the mayoral race.

“I haven’t said no, but what I can say is I’m overwhelmed by the number of people who stop me on a daily basis, not asking me if I am running, but pleading with me to run,” he said, adding he’s considering all his options and will respect his family’s wishes regarding the possibility.

Election year or not, Grossi said he remains "fiercely opposed" to the UYSS, saying Lake Simcoe and the Holland River should not be the receiver of sewage from Newmarket, East Gwillimbury and Aurora.

“They can say whatever they want, but in all of my years on regional council we spent an awful lot of time and money going through the process of approving the expansion to the York-Durham sewage system and sizing it so that it would fit into all of the official plans of the areas that were going to be served by that system, making sure that Duffin Creek’s multibillion dollar facility could accommodate all of that growth, including that of Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill and coming all the way up to Aurora, Newmarket and East Gwillimbury,” Grossi said.

“All of the infrastructure that went in, and was planned to go in to the ground, was sized and built to accommodate all that growth,” he said, adding the Lake Simcoe alternative for the sewage system most likely has more to do with capacity for the potential development of “whitebelt lands” outside of Markham, Richmond Hill and Vaughan’s official plans and less to do with provincial directives.

“If you need the infrastructure for the expansion of those lands because there won’t necessarily be the capacity if growth from the northern municipalities of Aurora, Newmarket and East Gwillimbury flows to the south, at least be up front about it and don’t hide behind the fact that the UYSS is a good alternative,” he said.

Using Lake Simcoe as an alternative to York-Durham’s “Big Pipe” was first floated in 2009.

The $685-million sewage treatment project with technology hailed by the region and the area’s conservation authority as the most advanced in Canada and well beyond anything already being done on the lake -- which is also home to 15 other sewage plants that have been dumping effluent into the lake for decades -- has never passed the smell test with area residents, including the Chippewas of Georgina Island.

To date, just over 32,000 people have signed a petition initiated by the Chippewas, which rejects the UYSS project as it stands over a number of issues, including potential long-term effects of the sewage plant drastically changing the way of life for island residents and, more specifically,   concerns around pharmaceutical and personal care products in the water.

The petition urges the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to actively consult and seek consent for the project from the Georgina Island First Nation; a rehabilitation of water infrastructure on the island; and a cleanup of the Thane smelter site since it is contaminating groundwater that is seeping into Lake Simcoe.

“Have our regional councillors signed that petition?” Grossi asked. “Don’t town council meetings start with a recognition of the Chippewas of Georgina Island now? If they want to take it to the next step on top of former council’s friendship agreement with the Chippewas, why aren’t they advocating for people they say they have great respect for?”

Quirk and Davison neither confirmed nor denied they had signed the petition, when asked by The Advocate.

Both declined to clarify if Georgina's interests are compatible or diverge from the region's stance on the project.

“Neither this council nor the previous council have a formalized position on UYSS,” communications manager Tanya Thompson said, adding the town “continues to monitor the various aspects of the project”.

She added the region’s report on the environmental assessment tabled Jan. 18, which prompted comments from Ferri and chair Wayne Emmerson last week, will be included in an upcoming town council agenda.