The Margach landfill was designed in 1986 to collect leachate in an 11 hectare engineered wetland, absorbing phosphorous and discharging into the lake surrounded by residential property. The ministry now believes the lake is reaching its capacity to assimilate phosphorous and intends to propose a Director's Order to ensure the site is closed, that inspections and tests be conducted, and that the company provide $2.3 million in financial support.
"Laurenson's Lake is at its capacity to take more phosphorous and any additional phosphorous loading could have a detrimental effect on the lake," said Lisa Brygidyr, the ministry's issues project coordinator for the Kenora and Thunder Bay Districts.
AbitibiBowater used the Margach site for non-hazardous industrial wastes including wood bark, bio-solids from the secondary treatment facility, general wood waste, scrappings, boiler ash, clinkers and sludge from the primary clarifier and recycling facility. Throughout the mill's demolition from 2007 to 2009, demolition debris was also deposited there.
AbitibiBowater and many of its executives are named in the Director's Order as the ministry hopes to hold the company responsible for the monitoring and maintenance of the site over the next 30 years.
When the company was placed under creditor protection in 2009, the federal Quebec Superior Court granted the company the right to transfer the waste disposal site to Numbered Company 451, which, without directors or officers, was declared insolvent and is still in receivership. In March of 2011, the receiver successfully petitioned the court to abandon the sites. In the same decision, the Ministry of the Environment was given the opportunity to follow up with specific sites of environmental concern and the ministry has identified three sites in Ontario, two of which are within the City of Kenora boundaries.
"Our job is to protect the environment and we have to make sure companies are monitoring their site in an environmentally responsible way. If they're not, we're going to go after them," Brygidyr explained. "We're utilizing that right."
For the second site at Mud Lake, the ministry declared an emergency exception to the public consultation legislation on May 13 to address leeching concerns in the former AbitibiBowater site adjacent to the landfill site. The ministry and the company reached an agreement on June 3 to intervene immediately to ensure the waste would not overflow.
"There's a potential for the water levels in Mud Lake to increase in the spring melt. The water levels can increase to where the pumping system is insufficient," Brygidyr said. "The culvert at the landfill site near the Mud Lake site is the Rabbit Lake wetland, which ultimately flows into the Winnipeg River, which is a source of drinking water for residents and aboriginal communities downstream."
Public consultation on Margach will be open until August 11 and can be accessed through the ministry's website at www.ebr.gov.on.ca with the reference number 8301-8HFPUQ.
Officials at AbitibiBowater declined comment, as the issue is still in the public consultation period.
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