MINDEMOYA—With a group of about 14 individuals from across Manitoulin Island making up the Island waste management committee, a Billings township councillor outlined that representatives of the committee will be visiting local municipalities and First Nations to outline their plans, and once a plan is developed, it will be brought forward for discussion.
Billings councillor Vince Grogan told members of the Manitoulin Municipal Association (MMA) at a recent meeting, “Thank you for having us here. This Island Waste Management Committee proposal was an initiative that was brought up by our council. I love the Island, but we can be better stewards of the land and environment in terms of our waste management.”
Councillor Grogan said hauling waste off the Island is not the best option for the local municipalities. “We shouldn’t be trucking waste off the Island, we should be repurposing, reusing and recycling materials,” said Councillor Grogan. “We have an obligation to protect the Island, the residents, our wildlife and our environment.”
“God forbid something ever happens and we have an environmental disaster here,” said Councillor Grogan, noting he was living in Mississauga in the 1970s when a trail derailment took place in his community. His family lived in close proximity to where the incident took place, and his family was displaced from their home for two weeks. “I know what it is like to be displaced. I would hate to see this take place here or someone die because they couldn’t get to a hospital because of a disaster.”
“And if there was ever a disaster it would contaminate our water and our land,” continued Councillor Grogan. He explained Billings township is looking at alternatives to bring forward toward fruitful discussions on waste management and bring this back to the MMA and First Nations with a concrete plan.
“We should never forget about all the new technologies for waste reduction out there,” said Dale Scott, a Central Manitoulin councillor. “We tried in Central Manitoulin, but it didn’t happen,” he said, noting, “everywhere throughout the world countries are using thermal technologies.” In doing research on the issue, he said it has been mentioned that “Canada is one of the most backward in terms of undeveloped waste management alternatives. We have too much land and resources available to us that we don’t worry about (waste management).” He said countries like Africa and many others are way ahead of Canada in terms of waste management.
Councillor Grogan told the group that the Island waste management committee has 14 people, island-wide, on it and that its first meeting will take place in November. A mission and business plan will be developed. He said a group of members of the committee will be making presentations to municipalities and First Nations as to what it wants to do, while another group of the committee will work on trying to attract funding for the local waste initiative.
“We have people that are looking at alternative technology alternatives and as a working group we will come to you to outline what we are looking at,” continued Councillor Grogan. “I want to contribute something to our beautiful Island. ‘Cityits’ have no regards for the Island when they visit here. I live on Mudge Bay (in Kagawong) and as I walk my dog on the bay, I will find beer cans, coffee cups and other garbage around. I realize locals are responsible for a little of the waste but nothing like we see when there is an influx of tourists coming to the Island in the summer.”
He said the group is looking at alternatives to waste management, and part of the planning is to devise a system where financial contributions can be derived from tourists to the Island.
“Each truck that goes off the island with waste means 230 tons of carbon per year. We have the opportunity to receive carbon credits for reducing waste going off the Island. Instead of spending millions of dollars with GFL to recycle and repurpose waste we would be looking at alternatives to solve these issues locally.”
While First Nation representatives attended the original meeting hosted by Billings to look at an Island waste committee, local Indigenous communities at this point are the only ones not participating in the project, said Councillor Grogan. However, “I’m going to meet with the Indigenous communities personally, I’m seeing the UCCM and other groups as well, and larger businesses on the Island that dispose of their own waste.” He pointed out these meetings have not been set up as of yet.
Bryan Barker, Mayor of Billings Township told the MMA, “Our CAO (Emily Dance) is going to take part in the committee process. We are planning to make a presentation to the MMA, and the UCCM and lay out the plans once we have this completed. There will be a bit of a financial contribution to be made and none of this will happen overnight. But the idea is to start the ball rolling, work together, and keep everyone in the loop on how all of this is proceeding.”
“I wish the committee the best of luck,” said MMA chair Ken Noland. “I’ve been on this committee 27 years and we have tabled many discussions on this issue during that time. I’m just saying it is a hard process to get this type of plan put together.”
“This is a different group now,” said Councillor Grogan, who has extensive experience in trucking of waste. He said that companies like Ameristeel is the largest steel recycling in the world and has three facilities in Ontario. The company buys steel, and he said they and other companies that deal with other types of materials such as aluminum and cans can be contacted to see the interest of purchasing these materials from municipalities and First Nations on the island.
“We ask that you just bear with us,” said Councillor Grogan. “When we get to the stage we have a worthwhile plan put together we will be bringing this forward for discussion.”
Al MacNevin, mayor of the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands (NEMI) said while he has read of many technologies in place to repurpose, reuse and limit waste, “What small municipality is going to be able to do this in Ontario? And some still have landfills. And, at the second meeting leading up to the forming of the committee it was suggested that this committee would need a staff person. I haven’t read about any small town in Ontario undergoing this type of plan.”
Mayor MacNevin further explained NEMI will have its budget in place before Christmas. “When the committee comes forward with a proposal, we will consider it. But we need to know how much we will be paying. Then we can make a decision whether we can afford this. Right now, we can’t even afford new housing and hospitals are closing in other areas.”
“We will be bringing all of this forward after we have a plan in place,” said Councillor Grogan. “One of the things we are going to stress in our plan is education and communication. Everyone can home compost and clean out cans. Not everything has to go into the garbage bag and from there to the landfill.
“I’m looking forward to the meeting,” added Mayor MacNevin.
