Town Initiates Legal Action Against The Ministry

For Immediate Release
April 10, 2015
Town Initiates Legal Action Against The Ministry of The Environment
(Georgina, ON) The Town of Georgina has filed for a judicial review of the Ministry of the Environment’s decision to
revoke a long standing clean-up order on the Thane Smelter Site.
The order was issued for the abandoned site in 2000. The Ministry made the decision to revoke the order in July 2014,
without notifying or consulting with the Town, residents or the former liaison committee.
“We don’t support the decision to revoke the order. Our community has been living with this issue since the 1980’s,
voicing concerns about the operation and the potential environmental impacts. We were always told by the Ministry
that they had a Control Order on the property, they were monitoring it and in the event there was a problem, they
would clean it up,” says Mayor Margaret Quirk.
The Thane Smelter went out of business in 1997, leaving a contaminated site containing numerous harmful pollutants
behind. It’s been an on-going issue for each sitting Council for decades.
The Town removed the dilapidated building on the site in 2003 to prevent trespassers from entering the unsafe
structure. In 2009, The Ministry of the Environment initiated the Thane Public Liaison Committee holding over 30
meetings regarding the issue, to only disband the group in 2013 despite strong opposition from the Town and
citizens. Earlier this week, Ecojustice, a non-profit environmental law firm, filed a separate judicial review application on
behalf of a Georgina resident and former member of the Thane Public Liaison Committee.
“We have acted in good faith keeping transparency at the forefront. The Ministry’s decision to remove the order was
done with no consultation or advisement. As a Council, we are initiating legal action in order to have the clean-up order
reinstated. Protecting Lake Simcoe and its watershed is our primary goal,” says Mayor Quirk.
- 30 Media Contact:
Tanya Thompson
Communications Manager
Phone: 905-476-4301, Ext. 2233
Email: [email protected]
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