To: City of Ottawa Councilors and local residents

As you may be aware, Carl's Waste Services is currently proposing a new facility for a waste processing and transfer station. Here are some questions and answers on this proposal for your information:

Why is Carl's proposing this facility and how will it benefit the community?
We know that just filling up landfills with waste is not sustainable — we need to find solutions — and we need to find them today. According to recent articles posted in local newspapers, industrial and commercial waste makes up 60%-70% of the 860,000 tonnes of waste generated annually in Ottawa. Currently less than 20% of Ottawa’s industrial and commercial waste gets recycled. Ottawa has a 60% target for 2015 as outlined in the city’s own waste diversion plan. Carl's operates largely on the hauling of industrial and commercial waste and is proposing this solution as a means to help Ottawa divert more of it's waste — and instead recycle industrial and commercial waste where possible. We at Carl's are thinking about the future of the industry and the future of Ottawa as a cleaner, greener society. We are doing our part to transform the industry.

How does this benefit Carl's Waste Services?
With this facility, Carl's waste services can change it's current hauling model and adjust to increased demand for recycling and become more environmentally friendly. We can lead the industry and help turn it into the direction that the future dictates. In it's current model, Carl's can only continue to fill landfills while hauling waste. Our goal is to help begin to transform the waste industry with a forward-thinking model of operation.

What material will be recycled if this facility is approved?
Carl's will have the ability to sort through the construction waste it picks up, which makes up a large part of its clientele. This will allow us to sort out the wood (which may be sent for chipping and re-used), concrete and asphalt will be shipped out (which can be re-crushed and sold as aggregate base), steel (which is shipped to metal recyclers), tires (which can be shipped to tire recycling plants under the Ontario Tire Stewardship Program), cardboard (brought to a cardboard recycling plant). Blue box and black box material will be retrieved as well for the appropriate recycling facilities. We are also investigating possibilities for other material such as asphalt shingles, carpet and drywall which is under review. Other material will be investigated as technology advances in these areas.

Will the waste from this facility contaminate the local well water?
What is being proposed is not a disposal site. No waste or recyclables will be buried. Waste received will be dumped inside a building, preventing any runoff. Once waste is dumped it will be loaded into a transport trailer for landfill. Recyclable materials will be sorted and loaded for recycling markets. The building will be enclosed on all four sides, with concrete floors. A holding tank will be installed to collect any potential floor water, for off-site treatment. We understand the local the local residents are concerned about their wells and we too are concerned about this issue as our facility runs on a well. The facility that is being proposed will be constructed so that contamination will not be a concern. There are technical experts who are helping us create a top class facility. Waste will not be stored in the facility for long-term disposal. This is not a landfill, but a processing and transfer station. Carl's will be taking measures to ensure that the appropriate safety measures are in place to control any environmental issues and waste will not be dumped for long-term waste disposal on the site. Prior to Carl's owning this land, there was an auto parts recycling (Junk Yard) operation located on the land which has not disrupted the environment.

Are there other facilities in the area?
There are 4 similar facilities that are open and in operation within the City of Ottawa. These waste transfer stations have been open for several years. One particular facility is located in the west end of Ottawa, this waste transfer recycling facility has residents close by and have ground drinking water. To our knowledge this site has not contaminated any local residents ground water.

Will there be more local traffic and noise with additional trucks in this facility?
Carl's currently has 10-12 trucks in and out of it's facility multiple times daily. This will not change. Trucks currently pick up boxes on the Carl's site, transport them to client sites, dump the waste in the landfill, return boxes to the site. The only change that will occur in the proposed new model is that the landfill stop will be skipped and the trucks will go directly to the facility. There will be minimal change to existing conditions related to noise or traffic. Carl's is not planning to support additional trucking businesses and by reading the proposal, you will see that the tonnage applied for to the Province is not enough to support additional trucking businesses for mainstream use.

Will this facility operate 24/7?
This facility will not operate 24/7 as we currently have to abide by the City of Ottawa bylaw which does not operate 24/7 — all activity has to be completed by 11pm. The typical hours Carl's operates currently is from 6am to 6pm Monday through Saturday with exceptions for emergency. These hours will not change. The reason the application to the Province is for 24/7 is to ensure that if the City of Ottawa in the future demands evening pick-ups, Carl's will be able to support the demand without having to re-apply to the Province. We do not anticipate at this time having to use extended hours or a change to the bylaw.

How will Carl's communicate new developments on this facility?
Our door is always open to our local community members to contact us and learn more. And, if the proposal is considered valid by the Province, we have planned to hold an open house to discuss this matter with local residents to ensure they understand our future plans and understand that this site will be of benefit to our local community rather than a disruption. At this time we have not held an open house since we do not know if this proposal would be considered by the Province. If we are not accepted by the Province, then there are no details to work through with the community. If it is considered by the Province, then we would like to work closely with our local community to ensure all concerns are heard and that we are working together collaboratively to protect the environment and the needs of local residents. We are very excited about this initiative we are undertaking and truly believe it will be a great solution to the currently underwhelming options that are available from many of our competitors. And we hope that when the community understands more, they too will be excited about this initiative.

Has Carl's been hiding this proposal and why have they not communicated with local councillors as stated in the media?
We at Carl's are both surprised and disappointed by the remarks from our local councillor that we have not been keeping him informed. We have indeed been in contact with his office several times over the last six months, providing information in advance as we have it — including an early draft of the proposal — and we also met with a member of his office at City Hall on Laurier Ave. to ensure they were aware. Unfortunately, our councillor has up until now been unavailable for direct comment to us, only being met by his staff. I am disappointed that we lack the support of our local councillor to talk with us directly and that he has not been actively reciprocating our outreach for him to get involved. We would enjoy the opportunity to have him discuss this with us directly and learn more on how we can work together to make the waste industry in his community more environmentally friendly and create substantial change for the future. I hope this situation will now encourage him to be more participatory in working with us on this important initiative. We feel that a proposed INTERM CONTROL by law, proposed by Rob Jellet is not necessary at this particular stage in the process of the application. If the Ministry of the Environment does not approve the site there will be no need to implement this by-law.

We suggest to let the Ministry conduct their investigation of the application and make their decision based on what we submitted. If approved Carl’s Waste Services would work with the City of Ottawa to unsure any environmental concerns will be addressed before proceeding with development of the facility.