Waste Management's Environmental Assessment (EA) for its proposed Warwick landfill site expansion is back on track, with the public consultation process resuming in early November.

Waste Management will be releasing the draft Discussion Papers 7, 8 and 9 on November 9, which will be followed by EA newsletters summarizing each of the discussion papers. The consultation process for these draft documents will take 150 days beginning in November and ending by late April. Once these discussion papers are finalized, they will become part of the formal Environmental Assessment submission provided to the Ministry of the Environment for its review.

This process to expand the Warwick site began in 1998 with the creation of the Terms of Reference for an Environmental Assessment. The Terms of Reference (ToR) were approved by the provincial government and the EA process began with extensive consultation with representatives of the Township of Warwick.

The EA process came to a halt in mid-2003 after two groups initiated a legal challenge to the Terms of Reference for our Richmond landfill expansion project in eastern Ontario, which impacted the Warwick project as well as other public and private sector waste disposal projects in Ontario. In June 2003, the court ruled in the groups' favour. Our company appealed that decision and in late August 2004 the higher court ruled in favour of our appeal.

The court's decision does not mean that the landfill expansion is approved - simply that the EA application process we have been following can continue. Because of the court's decision, the approved Terms of Reference will continue to guide the expansion proposal.