Members of the Granite Club drop off their garbage at the exclusive club in Toronto.Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is on a trash tear in Toronto, where it has shut down a garbage drop-off service at an exclusive recreation club and threatened a community compost site that is little more than a hole in the ground.
The exclusive Granite Club sent a note to members Tuesday afternoon stating it would no longer accept garbage from its well-heeled members.
Club management told the ministry it would consider applying for the $1,100 permit to act as a "waste transfer station." But as of 3 p.m., its collection service was effectively dumped.
Immediately after representatives from the ministry visited the club and told Peter Fyvie, the club's general manager, that he could no longer offer the service, he got to work on an application.
"You know what? It's probably smart. If I'd know that, I would have applied [for a permit]several weeks ago," he said.
Mr. Fyvie said about 5,000 families have used the garbage drop-off service at the club, many of them older members intimidated by protesters and pickets at the city's transfer stations and temporary dump sites. He said he anticipates the strike will wear on for several more weeks.
"That's a lot of time for these poor folks. If all it takes is for me to get a permit to continue, I'll do that," he said.
Meanwhile, a community compost service at Scadding Court Community Centre was also ordered to close because it doesn't have the appropriate $1,400 permit.
Advocates of the community compost site at Dundas Street West and Bathurst Street instead appealed to Environment Minister John Gerretsen to grant an exemption.
"I think they're trying to stop makeshift dumps from materializing overnight. When it's a five-by-five hole next to a bunch of flowers, I think they're overreacting," said city Councillor Adam Vaughan (Ward 20, Trinity Spadina).
"The same ministry is permitting the spraying of pesticides next to children's playgrounds. If this is the biggest environmental issue they have to tackle, it's a little odd."
Despite operating for years as the compost site for the community centre's kitchen - a program so successful the Ministry of the Environment gave it funding - this week's change to accept kitchen waste from neighbours goes too far, said the ministry's Toronto district manager, Rod Adams.
"Once they open it up more broadly, it's now operating a transfer site, and they need approval to do that," Mr. Adams said. "The volumes would be higher, the potential for odours generated from it, for vermin to be attracted, to monitor what's going into the garbage. There are other concerns that arise."
Similarly, entrepreneurs setting up rubbish-removal services are breaking ministry rules. A $500 waste-hauler approval must be obtained to perform door-to-door garbage pick-up.
Despite ministry staff contacting people who post ads for such services, there's been no substantial increase in applications, Mr. Adams said.
"As we become aware of situations that require approval, we will be making sure those that are doing that function [gain]certificates of approval from us," he said.
"We are not turning a blind eye."
If an ministry exemption doesn't come for Scadding Court, Mr. Vaughan said he would ask the city to include the compost hole in the temporary permit already issued for Alexandra Park across the road.
Either way, he said the compost site will likely stay open.
"If a neighbour happens to come by and drop some coffee beans in, instead of putting them in the local park, they have my support, too," he said.
With a report from Dakshana Bascaramurty