Frequently Asked Questions

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The Sydenham River is an integral part of the Great Lakes Basin, where 25% of our water comes from. There has not been any discussion around the removal of hazardous chemicals from the water to be used in their soil washing process. We know that sewage plants aren't even equipped to remove chemicals in certain prescription medications, this proposal plans to utilize a settlement pond as their water treatment to remove solids, prior to discharging into a supply of our downstream drinking water. 

There are still no defined transportation routes due to road classes, and limited routes in and out of Dresden. There are now claims of shipping across the border to asbestos permitting United States Landfills. This should be concerning to both northern and southern communities along the 401 and 402, and locations with bridge access to the U.S.A. Exposure to airborne contaminants like asbestos and silica, debris off the back of the trucks, and all the risks of increased traffic on the roads you, your family, and friends will share with 700 transport trucks a day there and back.

Our team found out about this project in February of  2024, leading the awareness campaign and opposition to this project. We brought it to the attention of the municipality, and gathered our community to stand with a unified voice of opposition resulting in York1 having to undergo a costly comprehensive environmental assessment. This community (and surrounding communities) engagement is vital to stopping this proposed landfill project less than 500m from our schools and homes. Without the help of those supporting our efforts this landfill would already be under construction and releasing nearly 10 times the globally allowable amount of benzene just north of us. 

Oxford People Against the Landfill (OPAL)  spent approximately $100,000 CAD per year, during their 8 year battle to stop the landfill proposal they fought. We achieved an environmental assessment several years sooner than they did by using the footprint they established. This coupled with legislative changes that were designed to give smaller municipalities a voice in these matters, we estimate a similar amount over a shorter period.

We are fundraising because we do not expect Chatham-Kent to pay for everything, we are residents of the area too and realize everyone is facing this 10% tax hike. This is our fight and we are doing our part to save our town. The Mayor has stated we have an unlimited budget, however no motion has been made to put this in action yet. Therefore we are not solely relying on the municipality to protect us, when a definite number of funds for the town is announced, we will post it here and keep moving forward. 

In these tough economic times we are being extremely conscious of how and where we spend our money. Our goal as an organization is to only spend our funds on the items and professionals absolutely necessary to achieving the outcome of stopping this landfill. Advertising campaign expenses have been covered by generous like-minded donors and partners like Environmental Defence. Donations raised are to be spent on experts we would need through the environmental assessment process.

Between February 1st and June 28th we accomplished what would usually be several years worth of work and results. The rapidly changing nature of this proposed project and the currently undefined parameters of the environmental assessment has led us to begin building a diverse team. We are fortunate enough to be working with an Environmental Geologist, experts at Environmental Defence Canada, CELA, and a landfill expert, many of them working pro-bono for us. We are responsible for paying necessary costs like lab fees, etc. The amazing help from from government and not-for-profit agencies like OPAL Alliance allow us to continue building a team of experienced and knowledgeable individuals. These are all resources we are grateful for to help us adapt to challenges we may face during the environmental assessment process.

This proposed landfill will be detrimental to our small businesses, the Dresden Night Market, the canners, and personal farms. Places that rely on tourism, and the small to medium sized fishing industry will no longer exist. While this landfill may create a maximum of 14 jobs, there are many unionized and non-unionized jobs at risk.