If the native clay in our area is so impermeable, why doesn't rainwater stay trapped on the surface?

A portion of the rainfall runs directly off the ground surface into local drainage ways, creeks, rivers and lakes. Another portion soaks into the top five metres (16 feet) of soil, or the "weathered zone," eventually making its way back to surface drainage ways. The weathered zone consists of impermeable gray-blue clay, which contains tiny cracks that have been created by the natural freeze-thaw cycles of our seasons. Below the weathered zone is the dense impermeable clay in a layer called the "unweathered zone," where no pathways exist to permit the free movement of surface water. The qualities of both clay zones are incorporated in the design of the Lambton landfill.

If your facility is closed down, won't industry be forced to manage its own hazardous wastes?

Such an action would serve no practical purpose and could put the public and the environment at risk. Hundreds of generators send their hazardous waste to the Lambton Facility each year, because they know it has the capability to manage it safely in accordance with all associated government regulations. While some generators might have the resources and technical know-how to manage their wastes, most would not.

With the assistance of waste management specialists, like Clean Harbors, generators can provide the products consumers demand while meeting their environmental obligations. At the same time, the overall volume of waste is being reduced-in some cases by as much as 90 per cent-through a variety of practical measures initiated by waste generators, governments, consumers and service companies, like Clean Harbors.

In daily application, hazardous waste management is a complex issue, closely bound to our modern standards and styles of living. Closing the Lambton Facility is not a viable alternative since it would not halt the production of hazardous wastes.

If you don't regularly test the quality of the drinking water wells in the surrounding area, how can you be sure you're not adversely affecting them?

We do regularly test the 45 wells that surround the Lambton facility at its borders from near-surface to bedrock-level wells. These tests confirm that the site remains secure and that no hazardous constituents are leaving the site. Since no contaminants are leaving the site, there is no reason to believe that the facility is having any effect on drinking water wells located farther away.

Did you conduct a full Environmental Assessment in order to receive provincial approval to continue landfill operations in 1997?

Yes. We conducted a full Environmental Assessment (EA) for the continuation of landfill activities at the site from May, 1994 to September, 1997. Conducted under Ontario's Environmental Assessment Act, this assessment identified and evaluated a wide range of potential environmental and social impacts associated with landfill operations at the Lambton Facility. Alternate locations were also evaluated.

The extensive public consultation and information program included:

• Monthly meetings by volunteer members from our Community Advisory Committee
• A series of advertised public information meetings and consultations
• Community opinion surveys
• One-on-one meetings with concerned and interested local residents and groups
• Informational mailings
• Consultation with close to 20 federal, provincial, regional and municipal government agencies

The entire assessment is documented in a five-volume report, the "Landfill Continuation Environmental Assessment." Copies are available for review at the Lambton Facility, at the offices of the Ministry of the Environment, Sarnia District, and at the Township of St. Clair.

Was there a public hearing before the 1997 Minister of the Environment approved Landfill Cell 18?

The Minister of the Environment received no requests for a public hearing and therefore determined one was not necessary. Specifically, community and technical concerns about continuing landfill operations were resolved during the three years in which the Environmental Assessment public consultation and peer review process was conducted. As a result, there were no outstanding questions for the Environmental Assessment Board to address.

Is the groundwater aquifer around the Lambton Facility linked by an underground stream to Lake Huron?

No. Scientific knowledge about local groundwater refutes such a claim. The subsurface geography of western Lambton County, an area called the St. Clair Clay Plain, has been likened to a brick of butter set on a very shallow dish - the brick represents the clay till zone (measuring 38-45 metres/130-150 feet from ground surface downward) and the dish is the top of the underlying bedrock. The narrow zone where the clay/butter brick meets the bedrock/dish is called the interface aquifer, where groundwater most easily collects. University of Western Ontario researchers describe the clay plain aquifer as a sometimes discontinuous zone of sand and broken rock (measuring 0-1.5 metres/0-5 feet thick).

In the vicinity of the Lambton Facility, the aquifer is approximately 0.5 metre (1.5 feet) thick. Due to the impervious nature of the overlying clay till, water can only flow into and from the aquifer at a few locations around the outside edge of the clay plain. Water flow within the aquifer is extremely slow (measured at approximately 3 millimetres/1/8 inch per year), which reflects the influence of the remaining domestic water well pumps, not the force of an underground stream. The effect of surface wells is so limited that the aquifer still contains 15,000-year-old glacial meltwater.

Are there measures designed into your landfill operation to ensure the protection of the area's groundwater?

Yes. The primary purpose of the landfill is to safely contain waste in a manner that will ensure the long-term protection of the area's groundwater. For example, during the facility's Environmental Assessment, the company was required to demonstrate that the solid wastes to be landfilled would be effectively contained on the site for thousands of years. Should it ever be necessary, a contingency program will be activated to ensure that landfill contaminants are controlled and collected on site, with no adverse effect on the area's groundwater. In addition, since 1974 the facility has maintained a network of groundwater monitoring wells around the site to verify the landfill's containment capabilities.

Does the Landfill Pollute Local Groundwater Resources?

There is currently no evidence of contamination of the interface aquifer in analytical samples collected as part of the semiannual sampling event at the Lambton site, which are a result of site operations. Clean Harbors' has an active groundwater monitoring program that provides early detection of changes in groundwater quality at the site. Monitoring wells installed along the perimeter of the facility to detect contaminants. The monitoring program is reviewed by the Ministry of the Environment. Learn more »

Does the Operation of the Landfill Contaminate Local Crops?

Clean Harbors has maintained a phytotoxicology monitoring program since 1991 to track potential impacts on surrounding farms within approximately two km of the Lambton Facility. Foliage, soil and crop samples are collected and analyzed for a broad range of trace organic compounds and metals. There has been no evidence of any impact on the quality of local crops. Learn more »

Where does the waste you landfill come from?

The Lambton Facility's principal service area covers the Great Lakes Region, which includes the provinces of Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba, and the states of Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, New York and Pennslyvania.