Biggars Lane Landfill Expansion Environmental Assessment

Thank you for your participation! The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, David Piccini, approved the Biggars Lane Landfill Expansion Environmental Assessment on April 14, 2022. View the Notice of Approval.

The Need

Based on current waste generation projections, it is predicted that the Biggars Lane Landfill site (the County's only operating waste disposal facility) will reach capacity in 2023/2024. As the County plans for the future, it is looking to ensure that its solid waste disposal needs will be met for an estimated 30-year planning period following the closure of the existing approved landfilling area.

Previous Studies

Solid Waste Disposal Future Needs Study (2010)

The County undertook a Solid Waste Disposal Future Needs Study in 2010 to identify solid waste disposal options that would enable the County to dispose of solid waste generated within the County after the Biggars Lane Landfill reached its currently approved capacity. The study examined various alternatives and concluded that the preferred alternative to address future solid waste disposal needs was to develop new disposal capacity at the Biggars Lane Landfill site property.

• Solid Waste Future Needs Study - Executive Summary
• Solid Waste Future Needs Study - Full Text

The Project Initiation (2012)

In mid-2012 the County commenced an Environmental Assessment (EA) to explore alternative ways to expand the Biggars Lane Landfill site.

Terms of Reference (2015)

The first step in the project was to prepare and submit a Terms of Reference (ToR) for the EA. The ToR identifies the process the County would follow to undertake the EA under the Environmental Assessment Act. The County received approval of the ToR from the then Minister of Environment and Climate Change in May 2015.

• Proposed Terms of Reference - Secure Addition Landfill Disposal Capacity
• Terms of Reference - Notice of Approval

Environmental Assessment

In August 2015 the County commenced the work to fulfill the requirements of the approved ToR, for the preparation and submission of an Environmental Assessment Study to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) for approval. The Environmental Assessment Study has examined alternative methods to expand the Biggars Lane Landfill, identified the preferred alternative and determined the net environmental effects of the expansion.

Draft Environmental Assessment Report (2018)

On November 9, 2018 the Draft Environmental Assessment Report was made available to the public, Indigenous communities and agencies, requesting their input on the report’s conclusions. This comment period lasted five weeks, until December 14, 2018. The comments received were assessed and, if necessary, incorporated in the Final Environmental Assessment Report.

Final Environmental Assessment Report (2021)

The Final Environmental Assessment Report was prepared based on the comments received from public, Indigenous communities and agencies on the Draft Environmental Assessment Report. The Final Environmental Assessment Report was submitted to the MECP for review and approval. The public, agencies and other interested persons period of review of the Final EA Report was from February 15, 2021 to May 7, 2021.

The County is seeking EAA approval to increase the Biggars Lane Landfill disposal capacity by 1,130,000 cubic metres to meet the County’s disposal requirements for the estimated 30-year planning period following the closure of the existing approved landfilling area. Biggars Lane Landfill is located on 128 Biggars Lane in the County of Brant, Ontario. The landfill site property is 91.18 hectares in size. The preferred method of landfill expansion as identified in the Environmental Assessment (EA) report is to construct and maintain a new landfilling area west of the existing (current approved) landfilling area. The proposed new landfilling area has a total footprint of approximately 14.3 hectares and will be constructed with an engineered base (liner) system. A leachate collection system will gather leachate draining from the liner system. The leachate will be taken by tanker truck to the Paris Water Pollution Control Plan (WPCP) for treatment, which was identified as the preferred method of treatment in the EA. A landfill gas collection system will also be required for the expansion area. A vertical collection well network was identified as the preferred method of landfill gas collection. Gas collected by the system is proposed to be sent to a flare for destruction of the methane – a significant greenhouse gas. The site will attempt to capture 70% of the landfill gas generated from the expansion area during the planning period (operating life) and the post-closure care period (i.e., following closure).

Volume I - Final Environmental Assessment Report

• Executive Summary
• Main Report

Public Consultation

Consultation during the Environmental Assessment Study has involved a variety of activities including the following:

• Public Notices in the local newspapers and on the County website.
• Public Information Centres
• PIC #1 and #2 were held during the preparation of the Terms of Reference. Information presented can be found in the 2014 Terms of Reference document noted above.
• PIC #3 was held in March 2016 to present the proposed landfill expansion alternative methods, scope of the individual assessment studies and the proposed evaluation criteria.
• PIC #4 held in May 2018 presented the findings of the individual assessment studies, evaluation of the 4 landfill expansion alternatives and the preliminary preferred landfill expansion alternative.
• The draft EA was made available for the public / agencies to comment in November 2018.
• The finalized EA available for the public / agencies to comment from February 15, 2021 to April 4, 2021
• Mailings to members on the Communications List
• Updated information posted on the Project webpage

Project Public Notices

• Notice of Commencement
• Notice of PIC #3
• PIC #3 Slides
• Public Information Centre #4
• PIC #4 Slides
• Notice of Draft Report for Review
• Notice of Submission of Environmental Assessment