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The public relations firm contracted to represent York1 says the Municipality of Chatham-Kent has declined engagement with the firm regarding the company’s Dresden landfill proposal.
In an email message to The Chatham Voice on May 30, Henley Strategies founder Laryssa Waler said that “recently” C-K officials “haven’t wanted to engage” with the firm on topics such as impacts on local roads if the project goes ahead.
Waler, who answered several questions from The Voice via email, also provided a comment in response to a statement put out by Chatham-Kent a day earlier. In it, C-K officials stated the municipality has not been contacted by anyone from York1.
However, Waler countered by citing an article in The Thamesville Herald published last August. Based on Freedom of Information access, the story stated the previous owners of the property had been in contact with the municipality since 2019, with York1 continuing those conversations from 2021 onwards, including “directly” with Mayor Darrin Canniff.
The statement said York1 met with Canniff in February of 2022 and had numerous meetings and calls throughout 2022 and 2023 with municipal staff and local councillors, as well as further meetings with the mayor.
“During these meetings, York1 outlined our plans for the Dresden facility and indicated our interest in entering into an equitable host-community agreement with the municipality. The tone in the meetings was supportive and collaborative and it was through these meetings that York1 agreed to limit the waste accepted at the facility to non-hazardous construction waste as per the municipality’s request to York1,” Waler said, noting “municipal support was communicated at these meetings.”
When contacted by The Voice regarding claims made by Waler, municipal officials said York1 hasn’t reached out to them with a formal proposal ever. They said they instead learned about the scope of the project when reading about it on the Environmental Registry of Ontario.
“York1 is once again grossly misrepresenting the level of contact between their organization and the municipality,” Bruce McAllister, general manager of community development for the municipality, said.
Municipal officials admitted that “very preliminary meetings” were held with York1 representatives, but no “substantive” plans were ever provided to staff.
When learning of it in 2024, McAllister said C-K was “immediately and publicly” opposed to the project.
“Their (York1) statement suggests that there was, at one time, support for the project. This is patently false; as once the ministry filing was made public, and staff and council had access to the plan’s details, there was immediate and public objection to the project.”
Chief administrative officer Michael Duben, who has been in the job since September of 2022, said he had “not received a single communication from York1.”
According to the municipality’s statement, the mayor and some members of council regularly meet with companies interested in investing in Chatham-Kent.
“These meetings do not indicate support, but rather indicate a willingness to explore potential projects that would benefit Chatham-Kent,” McAllister said, noting the landfill project could have a negative impact.
Walpole Island First Nation (WIFN) Chief Leela Thomas echoed the municipality’s comments.
Waler stated that WIFN was consulted about the Dresden landfill project in the spring of 2024, but Thomas said she can’t find any documentation to support that. Elected in September of 2024, the chief said the band’s first contact on the matter came on April 17, when they received a letter from the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks, informing them that they had until May 17 to comment.
“That is the first time we heard about the bill,” Thomas said in an email message. “We had numerous concerns, especially about lack of duty to consult.”
The latest comments came on the heels of the launch of a new website called sustainabledresden.ca. The information page details a plan by the York1 Environmental Solutions Ltd. to revive a dormant dump north of Dresden to accept construction waste.
A leachate ponding system will be constructed, as well as regenerative recycling building to process waste.
Waler told The Voice the project will create 100 jobs.
It will run Monday to Saturday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
She stressed the development is not a “new landfill” and no household waste will be processed.
According to the website, the project will benefit the environment by upgrading the derelict landfill, which has already undergone an environmental assessment.
The war of words is the latest event in a 16-month saga regarding the proposed project that could see as many 700 trucks a day bring waste to Dresden. The project, which came to light by accident, has sparked community-wide outrage due to its close proximity to the community and the Sydenham River. Opposition has recently heated up as the government is looking to place the York1 proposal under the umbrella of Bill 5 – Protect Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act. The bill will remove the comprehensive environmental assessment for the project.
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