Industry leaders say that the province’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks needs to do more pro-active enforcement
A filled dump truck departs a condominium construction site in downtown Toronto on Nov. 2, 2022. Under the lengthy and complex On-Site and Excess Soil Management Regulation, large-volume transfers must be recorded in a provincial registry, and owners of property where soil is excavated must test it, keep accurate records and assume legal responsibility for its handling.
The registry was intended to help them find other parties who needed soil for their own projects, thus ensuring reuse., legal and environmental sectors. Many of those experts broadly supported the new rules, but warned that if not properly enforced, they might have little impact. Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson for the province’s Environment Ministry, said in a statement that since April, 2021, the ministry has issued 18 provincial officer orders and two director’s orders relating to excess-soil matters. It had also issued more than 1,000 non-compliance directions where the ministry identified necessary corrective measures.
Andrew Dowie, parliamentary assistant to Ontario’s Environment Minister Andrea Khanjin, said during remarks at an excess-soils conference held in Toronto in September that ministry investigators were conducting inspections based on the client’s history, incidences of pollution and notifications of spills.
Grant Walsom, an engineer with XCG, an environmental engineering consultancy in Kitchener, Ont., who specializes in excess-soil management, said the ministry’s small enforcement staff’s caseload is largely dictated by public complaints.Chad Morden, a construction estimator at Charles Morden Construction Inc. in Midland, Ont., has operated a soil-receiving site for a decade. He said that of 10 receiving sites in his area, his company’s is the only one listed on the province’s registry.
RPRA charges fees based on soil volumes: In April, projects generating more than 500,000 cubic metres of soil began paying a flat fee of $150,000 to register, up from $30,000 previously. Its rates are poised to increase up to 30 per cent again in January.
Ministry Ontario Enforcement Area Construction Registry Number Kitchener Parks Environment Ministry
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