News Release

Court of Appeals Upholds HRM ByLaw

(Thursday, August 16/07)-- On behalf of Halifax Regional Council, Mayor Peter Kelly today welcomed the decision of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal that upholds HRM Bylaw S-602 that prevents the exportation of waste materials outside the municipal boundaries.

Mayor Kelly said the decision protects HRM’s environmental sustainability strategy, as well as the taxpayers’ considerable investment in the municipality’s state-of-the-art solid waste resource management system.

“Had waste haulers been permitted to export waste materials to landfills outside HRM boundaries, our taxpayers would have had to make-up the estimated $2 million to $4 million shortfall annually in revenues as a result of decreased tonnage at the Otter Lake facility,” the Mayor said.

Mayor Kelly said HRM’s solid waste strategy was developed in the late 1990s in response to new provincial environmental standards requiring municipalities to reduce the amount of waste going to landfills.

He said HRM’s strategy-- to reduce, re-use, re-cycle and to compost organic materials-- enabled the Province of Nova Scotia to become the first in Canada to achieve 50 per cent in waste diversion.

“The taxpayers of HRM are proud of our waste management system, which cost close to $100 million to put in place. The financial model for the system was based on it handling all of the solid waste generated annually within the municipality,” the Mayor said. “Any reductions in that supply of material due to exportation would have resulted in considerable financial losses for our residents.”

Councillor Reg Rankin, a member of the Community Monitoring Committee and in whose district the Otter Lake waste facility is located, said today the most compelling argument that HRM put forward to the Courts was that its solid waste system was an integrated one.

“If one component of that system was in jeopardy, all other components would have been in peril. We have one of the most sophisticated solid waste resource management systems in North America. Only inert and non-toxic materials are permitted in our landfill, which has triple liners in the disposal cells, as well as a leachate and gas collection system. We are doing more than our fair share to protect the environment,” the Councillor said.

Background:

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has allowed the appeal and has authorized HRM’s Bylaw S-602, which restricts the export of solid waste material generated within HRM.

The Court of Appeal’s decision affirms HRM’s commitment to manage all of its own waste in accordance with provincial regulations, while maintaining a cost-effective approach to environmental protection in HRM.

Provincial law gives HRM the responsibility and the authority to manage solid waste. By its decision, the Court has agreed that this authority includes the ability to pass bylaws related to the management of waste generated within HRM.

The Court of Appeal decision means that HRM can retain its revenue from commercial tipping fees collected at its facilities, thus sustaining the operation of its state-of-the art waste management system.

The loss of tipping fee revenue could have meant an increase in municipal taxes to offset the lost revenue and would have placed at risk the sustainability and continuance of Nova Scotia’s seven waste management regions and the province’s world leading waste/resource management strategy, that has achieved more than 50% diversion of waste from landfills since implementation in 1995.

–30--

Mayor Peter Kelly
490-4010

Councillor Reg Rankin
499-3744