There are just two days left for members of the public to submit comments on a proposed soil management facility in Gravenhurst. Read the information below to learn more about excess soil management and the proposed site.
What is excess soil, and what are soil management facilities?
Excess soil is soil dug up during construction and other activities that can’t or won’t be used at the site it came from. In the past, it was often brought to landfills, but legislation introduced in 2019 changed the standards around the disposal of excess soil.
Soil from construction sites can be contaminated with various chemicals during building, so it has to be cleaned before reuse. Soil management facilities take in soil from construction sites to process for future use. They use soil washing techniques to treat the soil and separate it from contaminants, which are then disposed of at approved sites.
Why create soil management facilities?
In December 2019, Ontario made changes to the Environmental Protection Act to improve the management of excess construction soil. It created a framework for properly reusing soil and introduced restrictions on landfilling clean soil.
The province estimates that roughly 25 million cubic metres of excess soil are produced in construction each year. Managing that soil can be costly and bad for the environment, especially since soil travels an average of 65 kilometres or more to get to a landfill or reuse site.
Local processing and reuse of excess soil aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by transport, reduce illegal dumping, decrease road damage and landfilled soil, and save on construction costs.
What should locals know about the proposed site in Gravenhurst?
Terranevo Soil Resources LP is applying for environmental compliance approval to create a waste disposal site at 1490 Winhara Road in Gravenhurst. The site would store soil material, put it through a soil washing plant before blending it with pit sands, and transfer residue from contaminants to approved treatment plants, according to a notice posted by the province.
The clean and non-hazardous contaminated soil received at the site would be kept on a hard surface and within a roofed structure to avoid creating dust or impacting surface water. Similarly, all wash water used in the facility would be recycled in the process and not released to surface water bodies.
The site would operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. It would be closed on statutory holidays.
Read the full proposal and submit a comment here.
