Toronto is poised to purchase the largest private landfill site in the province -- with a price tag believed to be $220-million -- in a surprise deal that secures a long-term alternative to sending the city's trash to Michigan.
Yesterday, after a rancorous daylong debate, much of it held in private, council voted 26-12 for city staff to sign a letter of intent as early as today -- with final negotiations to wrap up within 90 days -- to purchase Green Lane Environmental Ltd., a sprawling landfill site in St. Thomas, Ont., south of London.
"It's essential for this country's largest city to own its landfill to give it options and stability to deal with its waste management challenges," Mayor David Miller told reporters after the vote.
He vowed that the pending purchase of the dump, which recently won provincial approval for a significant expansion, will not slow the city's ambitious goal to recycle and compost 60 per cent of its waste by 2010, and 100 per cent by 2012, up from 40 per cent at present.
"The city of Toronto is committed to a waste-management strategy that involves reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill," he said.
The decisive vote, held at a specially convened council meeting announced late Friday after the tentative deal was struck, was held amid vocal protests from some members of council about the speed and secrecy of the proposed arrangement.
"It's hard to approve a contract we haven't seen and a letter of intent we have had only 20 minutes to review," said Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong (Don Valley East). Indeed, assuming a final sale agreement with Green Lane, the city's deal will come back to council for information only, not approval.
Mr. Miller defended the need for secrecy, on the grounds that it was necessary to protect the seller's business interests.
But he promised to release all contract details after the deal is completed.
In any case, yesterday's council decision now puts on the political back-burner what had threatened to be a controversial issue for the Nov. 13 municipal election.
Indeed, Councillor Jane Pitfield (Don Valley West), Mr. Miller's chief political rival for his job, spoke strongly against the proposal but voted with the majority.
Councillor Brian Ashton, who voted with the majority, observed "the [political]issue is gone -- now."
In effect, he and others observe, the city has effectively bought time -- the deal itself could stretch over a 15- to 20-year period -- to manage waste disposal options that will return to council after the Nov. 13 election.
The furor over Toronto's garbage comes amid rising protests from Michigan about receiving garbage from Canada.
Toronto has a contract with Republic Services, which owns Carleton Farms landfill just outside Detroit, to ship its garbage through to 2010. In 2005, Toronto sent about 750,000 tonnes of trash across the border, equivalent to about 85 trucks a day, but down from a high of 142 in 2003.
In theory, Toronto would not start shipping its trash to St. Thomas until after 2010, but could do so earlier if there were any border disruption before that time.
Key details of the Green Lane purchase remain secret. Works committee chair Shelley Carroll would confirm only that the cost per tonne would be higher than the current, relatively low price of $65 a tonne to ship garbage to Michigan and below the estimated price of $88 a tonne if the city had merely contracted with Green Lane as a client. Several other sources pegged the Green Lane deal at about $75 a tonne.
Meanwhile, the city's move did not sit well with politicians from Southwestern Ontario, whose constituents live near the Green Lane landfill site.
Labour Minister Steve Peters, whose riding of Elgin-Middlesex-London includes the Green Lane landfill, said: "I'm disappointed at this news. Toronto should be taking a more serious approach at looking at technologies to deal with their garbage in their own backyard."
Sensitive to criticism that Toronto is looking to others to solve its garbage problems, Mr. Miller said he had spoken yesterday with area municipal leaders to promise "categorically" that Toronto will honour all contracts between local municipalities and Green Lane.
In a telephone interview, London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best lamented, "I don't know of any community that would feel happy about the fact that Toronto is going to be dumping their garbage at their front door."
In June, in one of several provincial measures helpful to Toronto, Environment Minister Laurel Broten gave environmental assessment approval to Green Lane's bid to expand its capacity by 14.7 million tonnes.
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Toronto trash history
Some key dates in Toronto's long-running trash saga.
1860s: Toronto begins organized garbage collection after an outbreak of cholera.
1990s: With the Keele Valley landfill scheduled to close in 1999, the Metro government starts looking for a solution.
2000: A plan to ship garbage to the abandoned Adams Mine near Kirkland Lake, Ont., is narrowly approved, but the deal collapses days later.
2001: Council approves a deal to truck Toronto garbage, starting in 2003, to a Michigan landfill, Carleton Farms, owned by Republic Services.
2002: The Keele Valley site closes amid local celebrations.
March, 2006: Michigan state legislators approve a bill banning imports of Canadian garbage -- which can take effect only if Congress gives the state such powers.
Aug. 31, 2006: The province agrees to end the shipment of municipal waste to Michigan by 2010.
Sept. 19, 2006: Council reveals a deal with Green Lane.
Jennifer Lewington