Hamilton going to court to stop soil dumping on fire-razed Flamborough farm
Hamilton is going to court to try to stop the dumping of thousands of loads of development dirt on a controversial, fire-razed Flamborough farm.
The city filed documents Monday seeking a court injunction to stop what it considers illegal dumping of soil at 1802 Regional Road 97.
If the injunction is granted - a hearing was urgently" requested for Jan. 25 - Hamilton can ask for police help to stop incoming trucks that have so far dumped thousands of loads of fill excavated from development projects. Landowner Justin Holmes has said he applied - so far unsuccessfully - for a permit to use the soil, which he vows is clean.
We have taken various steps to prevent a contravention from taking place and none of them have stopped (the dumping)," said city bylaw head Monica Ciriello on Tuesday. It's unfortunate we've come to this stage, but an injunction is going to be what is required to ensure we have compliance with our bylaws."
The farm first earned notoriety last summer after a blaze fuelled by stacked pallets of hand sanitizer destroyed two barns and burned for two days.
But the city has also been investigating resident complaints about fill dumping for months. The city charged Holmes with breaching Hamilton's site alteration" bylaw in December and has issued 300 tickets to truckers for bringing in fill from outside Hamilton, which is also banned under city bylaw.
It is not common" for the city to seek an injunction against dumping, but Ciriello said without it bylaw cannot legally block access to the property.
By text message, Holmes said Tuesday said he has no choice" but to oppose the city's injunction request. I still need topsoil to finish otherwise (the land) won't be farmed," he said, adding he would ideally" like to bring in more development fill, as well.
Holmes previously said he is bringing in thousands of loads of clean fill" to build up 40 acres of stony, low-lying land by about 1.3 metres before finishing the area with topsoil, which he said he intends to farm.
That explanation doesn't make sense" to neighbour Marie McGeachy, who questioned why the height of land must rise so dramatically for farming.
McGeachy's family has erected a homemade stop the dumping" sign along the regional road and reached out to the city, conservation authority and province with concerns ranging from groundwater protection to flooding for the massive change in grade to the neighbouring land.
Holy smokes! This is great news," she said about the requested injunction. Yes, for sure, stop the dumping, but ideally I'd also like to know what has been dumped."
Several residents have reached out to The Spectator with questions about what is in the soil being dumped on the property, citing worries about a now-infamous, Mob-linked contaminated dirt dumping disaster at Waterdown Garden Supplies on Highway 5.
In December, the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said its past inspections showed incoming soil from Cambridge was clean and appropriate for agricultural reuse."
On Tuesday, Holmes said the ministry visited recently to do another inspection and he hopes to have the report in time to use in pending court hearings. He has said in the past the soil is clean but the city is welcome to waste their own money and test it again."
As of December, the city said it had no plans to do its own soil testing.
Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com