With a final decision looming, Chatham-Kent’s mayor and municipal staff are attempting to set the record straight after a member of council made several unsubstantiated claims about a proposed waste-to-energy project.
Chatham-Kent Council is set to vote Monday on whether or not to move forward with plans to construct an anaerobic digester on Bloomfield Road in Chatham, as part of a public-private partnership with Greenfield Global. The $160 million waste-to-energy facility will process industrial organic waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a landfill, and turn that waste into renewable natural gas and fertilizer.
Ward 6 Councillor Michael Bondy took to social media on April 22 to attack the proposal, claiming that he and other members of council are being forced to make a decision on the project without enough notice and information.
“I don’t know all of the details… that’s kind of the problem,” Bondy said in one of three reels posted to Facebook. “Apparently, staff has been working on it for five years. The last time council heard about it was three years ago.
“It can be claimed that this has been a work in progress, but it really didn’t get highlighted. None of us really knew about it.”
However, in an email to CKXS News, municipal staff refute that claim, adding that the project has been brought before council on eight separate occasions in open public sessions over the past five years, as well as in closed session meetings when warranted.
On June 23, 2023, council unanimously approved spending $1.5 million for an outside consultant to conduct due diligence to advance the project.
As well, all of the information on the proposal has been posted on the Let’s Talk Chatham-Kent website since March 23, 2026, the same day Chief Financial Officer Gord Quinton provided a detailed 20-minute update to council on the project.
“Him slamming it and saying he doesn’t have enough information — he obviously hasn’t been paying any attention,” said Mayor Darrin Canniff in response to Bondy’s social media posts. “If he read [the report], he would understand the project.”
Canniff said it’s the responsibility of every councillor to be informed on a topic before speaking about it to the public. He said councillors who have questions about municipal reports also have the ability to contact staff with questions.
“It’s a very detailed report, but to not read the report and sit there and say, ‘I’m not informed,’ that’s just not right,” said Canniff. “If you do nothing to prepare… it reflects on what you’ve done in the past to research this and understand it.”
In the online videos, Bondy also implied that the municipality will be on the hook for the majority of the cost of the $160 million facility.
“Why do I have a problem with this? Number 1, the money. Like, there’s your arena or two. Not an OHL arena, but that [amount] is definitely a new twin pad,” Bondy said. “For this kind of money, what is the benefit for the taxpayer? How does it improve your life?”
While the total project value is around $160 million, the municipality’s portion is limited to a $16 million investment, municipal staff said. If approved, the funding would be reallocated from existing investments and would not result in any additional cost to taxpayers.
Canniff said he has since been contacted by concerned residents, who have been misinformed about the cost.
“I’ve had calls with people saying, ‘Why are you wasting my taxpayer dollars?’ We’re not wasting taxpayer dollars,” said Canniff. “The bottom line is that it’s misinformation being put out about the project, and yes, it stirs up people that care about our community.”
The waste-to-energy plant is also expected to eliminate the need for roughly $25 million in capital costs for the Chatham-Kent PUC, generate new tax revenue, and create as many as 30 new full-time equivalent jobs and construction spin-off.
“Conservative estimates project approximately $123 million in returns over the next 30 years,” municipal staff said in an email. “This revenue has the potential to help offset future property tax pressures while supporting continued growth in Chatham-Kent.”