Nearly a year after east Mountain residents began complaining about the “stink” wafting from a nearby GFL landfill, the province has ordered the waste management company to fix the problem — within two years.
The facility run by GFL Environmental Inc. is on 65 Green Mountain Rd. W. in Hamilton and has been emitting a pungent odour of rotten eggs and garbage impacting the quality of life for dozens of residents in the area, they previously said.
Some residents told CBC Hamilton they were experiencing headaches, nausea as well as burning eyes and lungs from the smell, and they worried about the long-term health impacts.
“I’ve already been woken up in the middle of the night, almost sick to my stomach because the smell comes in. Now I’m afraid to open my windows,” resident Kathleen Taylor said last October.
Many had moved to the neighbourhood under the impression the dump would soon close, as it was nearly full, but instead GFL was given permission to expand it in 2019.
Following months of pressure from residents and elected officials like Coun. Brad Clark for the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to intervene, a provincial officer began inspecting the site last September. The ministry also detected elevated sulphur and in October ordered GFL to hire a third party to create an air monitoring plan.
‘Another summer of stink’
The landfill is predominately industrial waste from the steel and construction industries, Clark said at a council meeting Wednedsay.
In recent years, GFL moved stockpiled waste from one area to another to protect workers from a potential landslide, but exposing “a very large mountain” of waste to the elements in the process.
“The downside of that is when they moved all the material up front, the heat and humidity and wind started and we ended up with very high hydrogen sulphide amounts,” Clark said.
The provincial officer found the dump’s waste was piled too high and leachate had accumulated, according to the order issued to GFL on April 10. The waste also wasn’t properly covered, which led to leachate accumulating.
Leachate is a chemical stew of potentially toxic liquid formed when rain permeates the landfill and is likely causing the smell, the order said.
The officer ordered GFL to fix both the height and leachate issues within 24 months, which is too long, said Clark on Wednesday.
“The residents are very afraid of another summer of stink and they want to see the light — when is this going to stop?” said Clark.
Clark successfully passed a motion for the mayor to request the province change the timeline for GFL to comply with its order from two years to one year.
“I would suggest to the ministry they should be moving heaven and earth to get it done as quickly as possible to minimize the disturbance,” he said.
GFL did not respond to a request for comment.
Kimberley Baily, a coordiantor for GFL, previously told CBC Hamilton the company was “working hard to resolve the concerns raised by the community.”