ILLEGAL LIQUID INDUSTRIAL WASTE SITE CLEAN-UP
AND RESTORATION
Daniel C. Alleway, Project Development Officer
Environmental Approvals and Project Engineering Branch
Irmi R. Pawlowski, Hydrogeologist
Waste Site Evaluation Unit
Waste Management Branch
Ontario Ministry of the Environment
Toronto, Ontario
Canada M4V 1P5
LEGISLATIVE BACKGROUND
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is responsible for achieving and maintaining the quality
of the natural environment, including air, water, and land to protect human health and the ecosystem
and to ensure its use for future generations.
This objective is achieved in part through the administration of the Environmental Protection
Act [1], the Ontario Water Resources Act [2] and the Environmental Assessment Act [3]. In particular
the Environmental Protection Act provides comprehensive legislation prohibiting the deposit, addition, emission, or discharge of a contaminant into the natural environment. This act provides that
no person shall use, operate, establish, alter, enlarge, or extend a waste management system or a
waste disposal site unless a Certificate of Approval or a Provisional Certificate of Approval has been
issued and except in accordance with any conditions set out in such Certificate.
The Environmental Protection Act also provides for the requirement to alleviate the effect of any
contamination of the natural environment that may be caused by any person on reasonable and
probable grounds. The process includes the issuance of a Notice of Intent followed by a Director's
Order which can be appealed. Failing adequate action, the Director may initiate a clean-up at the
expense of the named party. In emergency situations, a Minister's Order may be issued. This Order
is non-appealable and as with the Director's Order, if adequate action is not taken, the Minister may
initiate the work at the expense of the named parties. The cost of the clean-up would be considered
a debt due to the Crown.
In addition, Ontario Regulation 313 made under the Environmental Protection Act for the transfer of liquid industrial waste provides procedures for generators, haulers, and disposal site operators
so that records of liquid industrial waste transactions are recorded and reported to the Ministry of
the Environment. This is accomplished by means of a five part Transfer of Liquid Industrial Waste
form issued to Ministry of the Environment certified or provisionally certified liquid waste haulers,
on which details of the liquid waste, source, nature and quantity, date, time, and location of the
liquid waste transfer and disposal facility utilized are recorded. Copies of the Transfer of Liquid
Industrial Waste forms are submitted both by the generator of the liquid waste and by the disposal
site operator. Source and disposal copies of the form are matched by computer and where discrepancies are found an investigation is initiated.
INTRODUCTION
Between May and October 1982, a variety of liquid and solid industrial wastes had been illegally
buried on a 100 acre farm approximately 40 km northwest of Metropolitan Toronto in King Township
(Figure 1, Inset) [4]. In October 1982, a nearby resident first reported to the Ministry of the Environment that waste haulage vehicles were entering the property. The initial investigation revealed the
presence of demolition wastes. In Ontario these were considered non-hazardous wastes. The wastes
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