Chatham-Kent is vowing to fight back against the Ontario government’s decision to revoke a mandated environmental review of a dormant landfill in Dresden and allow the site to be developed.
In a change of course from its initial position, the province has revealed legislation that proposes removing environmental assessment (EA) requirements for the property at 29831 Irish School Rd. through the “Protect Ontario by Unleashing our Economy Act, 2025.”
In the proposed legislation, the government cites the need to provide additional waste capacity in Ontario due to the threat of US tariffs impacting the province’s waste sector.
Nearly a year ago, following significant public outcry and municipal pushback, the province announced that Mississauga-based company York1 Waste Solutions would have to conduct a full environmental assessment (EA) at the property in order to move forward with its plans to expand the site into a regenerative recycling facility.
York1 initially filed two applications with the Environment Ministry in early 2024 to re-establish waste processing and transfer operations at the site, and expand the existing 0.8-hectare waste processing site to 25 hectares.
In a statement issued on Friday, the Municipality of Chatham-Kent said its administration, the mayor, and council are prepared to fight the waste facility proposal.
“We are extremely concerned about the recently announced direction the province is considering regarding environmental assessments,” said Mayor Darrin Canniff. “I would like to make it very clear: myself, council, and the community of Chatham-Kent will continue fight with every tool available to us against both the new legislative direction and the proposed waste facility.”
The municipality stated that it has retained expert lawyers and engineers to develop a strategy to oppose the waste facility proposal.
Chatham-Kent also noted that the public also has a 30-day comment period to respond to the government’s plan.
While the province cites York1 as the company developing the landfill site, ownership of the property is somewhat unclear.
Provincial documents show that York1 Environmental Solutions sold a major portion of the land on February 4, 2025 to Whitestone Fields Ltd. Whitestone Fields Ltd. is owned by Brian Brunetti, the current president and COO of York1.