Gananoque to seek approval for Public Works Yard waste site

Gananoque will pursue provincial approval to continue waste-management activities at its Public Works Yard after the municipality was ordered to stop accepting materials at the site because it was operating as an unauthorized waste transfer station. 

Council voted last Wednesday to direct staff to pursue an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) for the yard at 665 Charles St. N., while continuing to work with the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) on groundwater monitoring requirements. 

The decision comes after a lengthy compliance process involving the ministry and environmental consultant Cambium Inc. 

The property was previously operated as a landfill under provincial approval until Aug. 1, 1972, when the landfill was closed. 

According to a report prepared by manager of public works David Armstrong, historical records show the ministry encouraged the town between 1972 and 1987 to apply for approval to operate a waste transfer station. 

That approval was apparently never obtained. 

On Nov. 4, 1987, the ministry revoked its approval, leaving the property without current MECP approval for waste-transfer operations. 

Despite that, the Public Works Yard continued to accept various materials over the years, including leaf and yard waste, electronic waste, scrap metal, brush and material associated with the town’s “Dump Day” disposal event. 

The report states that the yard has been operating as an illegal waste transfer station. 

The issue came to the town’s attention in greater detail after the MECP conducted an inspection of the property in June 2025. 

The inspection determined the municipality was using the property as a waste-transfer site without an ECA under the Environmental Protection Act. 

The ministry subsequently required the town to submit an action plan addressing the compliance issues. 

Town staff began working with Cambium Inc. in August 2025 and spent the following year working through the corrective actions identified by the ministry. 

One of those issues involved contaminated soil. 

At MECP’s request, existing excess-soil stockpiles were tested. 

One stockpile, measuring approximately 195 cubic metres, was found to be contaminated, was removed from the property in 2026, and was taken to an approved receiving facility. 

Four additional stockpiles remain on the site, with a combined volume of approximately 2,705 cubic metres. 

The report says further technical review by the MECP remains outstanding, but it is likely the remaining soil can be left on the property and reused in the future under the province’s reporting requirements. 

The site has also become the subject of a groundwater investigation. 

On June 4, 2026, a resident contacted Town Hall after observing liquid seeping from the ground and running toward Stocking Hill Creek along the trail through the property. 

Town staff investigated the area and reported the incident to the MECP’s Spills Action Centre. 

Samples were taken beginning June 6, while staff photographed and monitored the area daily. 

The MECP officials subsequently visited the site and took additional samples. 

The town had not received the ministry’s sample results at the time of Wednesday’s report. 

Staff continue to monitor the discharge at the MECP’s request. 

The report notes that a similar discharge had previously been reported to the Spills Action Centre in 2023. 

The provincial ministry ultimately told Gananoque that public drop-offs at the site had to cease by Aug. 1, 2026, while waste generated from non-field operations had to be removed. 

The municipality received an extension until Oct. 31 to remove the material already at the site. 

Town staff subsequently decided to close the yard to the public and stop accepting materials. 

However, that situation changed last week. 

In correspondence received Sept. 1, the MECP granted the town temporary approval to accept leaf and yard waste only at the site until Oct. 31. 

The public works department announced Thursday that the yard will temporarily reopen for residents. 

The yard, with access from James A. Brennan Road, will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout September and October. 

The temporary approval does not include brush. 

“I am grateful to the Province of Ontario, and MECP for their understanding and the granting of this extension, and to MPP (Steve) Clark,” said Gananoque Mayor John Beddows. 

Leaf and yard waste can be dropped off free of charge, either loose or in brown paper bags. Plastic bags are not permitted. 

The temporary reopening does not resolve the municipality’s broader regulatory situation. 

Council’s decision Wednesday was to pursue the second of three options presented by staff: completing an ECA application and reviewing the technical requirements once they are provided by the MECP, while also reviewing the ministry’s groundwater monitoring plan once it is approved. 

The other options were to maintain the cessation of transfer-station operations and explore alternative waste-disposal and recycling options. 

Obtaining an ECA could be a lengthy and costly process. 

Staffers estimate a typical application for the site could take 12 to 24 months from project initiation to approval, with consulting, design and application costs estimated at $100,000 to $250,000 or more. 

Because the property is a former landfill, staff cautioned that the actual timeline and cost could exceed those estimates. 

The preliminary budget includes costs for regulatory strategy and pre-consultation, preparation of the ECA application and design and operations report, stormwater engineering, noise and odour assessments, traffic studies, environmental investigations, civil engineering and responding to MECP comments. 

The town also expects ongoing costs associated with groundwater monitoring and reporting. 

Those costs are estimated at between $4,000 and $20,000 annually, depending on the monitoring requirements ultimately imposed by the province. 

Administration, maintenance and reporting could add another estimated $10,000 to $50,000 annually. 

The town’s preferred approach before Wednesday’s decision had been to operate under existing “Field Operations” provisions while developing an alternative leaf and yard waste collection system. 

The municipality has been working toward implementing curbside leaf and yard waste collection in fall 2026. 

That work is now proceeding alongside the effort to obtain provincial approval for the Public Works Yard. 

The ECA process could ultimately determine whether Gananoque can legally resume some of the waste-management activities historically conducted at the site. 

Keith Dempsey is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the Brockville Recorder and Times. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.