Innisfil town council, in a close vote, 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 of Ontario is currently 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 I totally understand the concerns,” by the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation.
His concern, the deputy mayor said, was “where we take water from one watershed and put it in another watershed, and the impact it can 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, how fantastic it is.”
Davidson said there are still questions about the technology, and warned, “If we let this pipe go ahead, it says OK, we’re going to have major growth in this region – York, Aurora, Durham.”
The sewage system project is crucial to Newmarket's future growth.
Noting that the Upper York Sewage Solution would process 40 million to 80 million litres of sewage per day, he noted, “That’s a lot of capacity going into a shallow lake,” suggesting 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 coldwater 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 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,” which 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.
Councillor Alex Waters, who represents Innisfil at the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, challenged Davidson’s claims. Waters noted that the Upper York Sewage Solutions includes the use of reverse osmosis to remove pollutants like microplastics and pharmaceuticals.
“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.”
He also challenged the claim that the sewage will cross watershed boundaries, asking for clarification on the location of the divide between the Lake Simcoe and Lake Ontario watersheds.
Town Clerk Lee Parkin confirmed that the sewage would be coming from northern York Region and Aurora – all within the Lake Simcoe Watershed.
Councillor Donna Orsatti suggested that oversight from the Ministry of the Environment 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,” retorted Councillor Ken Fowler.
Councillor 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.”
Davidson continued to argue that 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.”
Councillor Waters reiterated the sewage is not coming from Durham, Ajax or Whitby. “That’s a completely different water system,” he said, adding, “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.”
Waters noted, “This is York Region water coming from the Lake Simcoe watershed, going into Lake Simcoe. It has nothing to do with other watersheds” – and in fact, sending the effluent south to Lake Ontario could have “detrimental effects on this lake in terms of water levels down the road.”
Mayor Dollin pointed out that 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, telling council to leave it to the province, “that they will do what’s best for the watershed.”
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 who arrived here and took their land – we need to listen to them. We need to understand very strongly that there’s a lot of concern.
“Don’t listen to developers, don’t listen to big money – listen to our First Nations.”
In a 5-4 vote, Davidson’s resolution was defeated.
