In a close vote, Innisfil town council has decided not to challenge the Upper York Sewage Solutions project, which would pump sewage from northern York Region to a new state-of-the-art treatment facility before discharging the effluent into Lake Simcoe.
The province is reviewing the proposal and considering an alternative that would send the effluent south instead, to be discharged into Lake Ontario.
Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson put forward a motion that would have had the town throw its support behind the province’s alternative solution, opposing the release of effluent into Lake Simcoe.
Davidson said he had been lobbied and understands the concerns of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation
The deputy-mayor said his concerns relate to taking water from one watershed and placing it in another, and what impact that would have on Lake Simcoe.
He noted the town had received a report and letter from Wayne Emmerson, chair of York Region council, outlining “how great they think the technology is (and) how fantastic it is.”
Davidson says there are still questions about the technology.
“If we let this pipe go ahead, it says 'OK, we’re going to have major growth in this region – York, Aurora, Durham," he said.
Noting that the Upper York Sewage Solution would process 40 to 80 million litres of sewage per day, “that’s a lot of capacity going into a shallow lake."
Davidson suggested that while Lake Ontario can handle the volume of treated effluent, Lake Simcoe is more fragile.
“Taking somebody else’s water and putting it in our lake, if Lake Simcoe becomes too warm, or too sick because of the pharmaceuticals," it could threaten the recovery of the cold-water fisheries and the return of species like smelt and herring, he said.
"Lake Simcoe could go backwards. It’s just starting to move forwards," Davidson added.
Davidson also warned that if the new plant ends up polluting the lake, “we won’t be allowed to expand our (wastewater treatment) plant, and neither will the 16 municipalities around the lake." That could make it impossible for Innisfil to move ahead with the Mobility Orbit planned community.
“Why are we letting another region pollute our lake, or impact our lake?” he asked.
Coun. Alex Waters, who represents Innisfil at the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, challenged Davidson’s claims.
Waters noted the Upper York Sewage Solutions project includes the use of reverse osmosis to remove pollutants, such as microplastics and pharmaceuticals.
“(It's) state-of-the-art, the best you can have,” he said of the technology. “I have full confidence that the state-of-the-art technology that they have chosen is a good technology.”
Waters also challenged the claim that the sewage will cross watershed boundaries, asking for clarification on the location of the divide between the lakes Simcoe and Ontario watersheds.
Town clerk Lee Parkin confirmed the sewage would be coming from northern York Region and Aurora, all within the Lake Simcoe watershed.
Coun. Bill Van Berkel remained unconvinced. While supporting the technology proposed, he worried the effluent released will have a warming effect on Lake Simcoe.
“My concern is for the lake itself,” he said. “I can’t see that putting any more treated water into this lake is going to make it better. Plus the Orbit is coming on. We’re going to be dumping so much more. We’re going to warm it up… and what is it going to do to our fisheries?”
Coun. Donna Orsatti suggested oversight from the environment ministry would ensure the safety of the lake and that council was overstepping its jurisdiction by commenting on the project.
“We’re stepping out of our boundary here by telling another town we don’t like what they do,” Orsatti said. “I think it’s really beyond our boundary of what we should be discussing.”
“But in essence, we were put here to represent the people, and as the people live and thrive on Lake Simcoe, this is very much in our wheelhouse,” said Coun. Ken Fowler.
Fowler was concerned the project could be used to transport sewage across watershed boundaries, and would add effluent that would warm the lake, an action that “messes with our ecosystem.”
“The water is not changing watersheds. The water is in the Lake Simcoe watershed,” replied Mayor Dollin.
Coun. Rob Nicol also supported the Upper York Sewage Solutions as originally proposed.
“I think this is state-of-the-art technology. This is decommissioning outdated and failing systems to provide better flow and better lake levels, instead of sending it off to someone else’s watershed," he said.
Davidson continued to argue the Upper York Sewage Solutions project could be the first step in a plan to pipe sewage north from Durham Region, warning that it could open the door for the manipulation of the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan.
He urged the town to listen to the Chippewa First Nations and their concerns.
“I think we really need to think twice,” Davidson said. “Let’s think about it from the perspective of the environment as a whole.”
Waters reiterated the sewage is not coming from Durham, Ajax or Whitby.
“That’s a completely different water system,” he said. “You can’t say it’s OK to expand the sewage treatment plant here in Innisfil and you don’t give the same respect to York Region. They are going out of their way to make sure the water is clean. It’s going to be cleaner than the water it’s going into.”
“This is York Region water coming from the Lake Simcoe watershed, going into Lake Simcoe," Waters added. "It has nothing to do with other watersheds."
Dollin pointed out the province is the approval authority and the project is still under review. She urged council not to meddle in what is a provincial matter.
“I think we’re really out of our lane. I think we’re out of our jurisdiction,” Dollin said.
At the same time, she supported the rights of the Chippewas of Georgina Island. “The Crown has the duty to consult,” she said.
Davidson said he was supporting the concerns of the First Nations.
“We need to listen to them. We need to understand very strongly that there’s a lot of concern," he said. “Don’t listen to developers, don’t listen to big money. Kisten to our First Nations.”
In a 5-4 vote, Davidson’s resolution was defeated.
