Greenfield Global Inc. & Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission - Environmental Compliance Approval (waste)

The proposal notice was posted on April 20, 2026 for a 45 day comment period until June 4, 2026. On June 29, 2026, the proposal notice was updated to clarify the hours of operation and the type of waste disposal site, and the comment period was extended for 30 days until July 29, 2026. The Ministry received 104 comments online and 2 comments in writing. We have considered all in-scope comments on the proposal.

The in-scope comments are addressed as follows:

Odours:Waste processing and storage will be conducted indoors or within sealed tanks to minimize odour. The facility will be equipped with an odour management/treatment system that was evaluated and incorporated within conditions of the Air Emissions ECA.

The Waste ECA contains conditions to ensure that odours do not negatively impact the environment during the transportation, receiving and processing of the waste.

Air quality and noise: Impacts to the air quality and noise from activities at the site were evaluated and incorporated within conditions of the Air Emissions ECA.

The Waste ECA contains a condition that the site will be constructed, operated and maintained in a manner that noise and dust do not negatively impact the environment.

Increased presence of insects, rodents, and scavenging birds: The facility is designed to meet good industrial practices, and the facility will operate to mitigate pests.

The Waste ECA contains conditions that the facility shall implement necessary housekeeping procedures to eliminate sources of attraction and if necessary, hire a qualified, licensed pest control professional to design and implement a pest control plan for the Site.

Truck traffic and impacts on roads: It is anticipated that approximately six (6) trucks per day will exit the site transporting dewatered digestate, and approximately two (2) trucks per month will exit the site transporting grit for final disposal. No additional environmental studies were required due to the limited traffic volume.

The Waste ECA contains conditions to ensure that the transportation of waste to and from the site are conducted to prevent impacts to the environmental. No queuing or parking of vehicles are allowed on any roadway that is not a distinct part of the site.

Composition and source of waste: Processed waste will come from Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission sludge by truck and pipeline; biodegradable and clean organics from Industrial, Commercial, and Institutional sources by truck; and thin stillage and wastewater both from the Greenfield Ethanol Plant by pipeline.

Impacts on Aboriginal and treaty rights: The ministry recognizes and takes seriously its duty to consult Indigenous peoples where it is contemplating decisions or actions that may adversely impact constitutionally protected Aboriginal or treaty rights.

As part of the review of the application, the ministry considered local site conditions. ECAs are issued where local site conditions are considered suitable and the ministry’s requirements are met. The ECA sets out terms and conditions on how operations at the site must take place to ensure the activities meet the ministry standards that are in place to protect human health and the environment.

Water quality and impacts on the Thames River: There will be no additional discharge or input to Thames River resulting from the waste processing at this facility. The wastewater that will be treated by the facility will be discharged directly to the municipal sanitary sewer. This discharge will meet the municipality’s sewer by-law and will be further treated by the municipal wastewater treatment plant under the authority of their wastewater treatment ECA.

Stormwater management was evaluated and incorporated within conditions of the Wastewater ECA.

The facility is equipped with secondary containment systems to address any spills that may occur from the waste that processed and stored in tanks located outside. The design of this secondary containment systems was evaluated and incorporated within conditions of both the Waste and Wastewater ECAs to ensure the safety of the natural environment.

Digestate testing, monitoring, classification, and management: The dewatered digestate produced by the facility will be further processed by another licensed facility, applied to non-agricultural land under the authorization of a separate ECA, sent for final disposal at a licensed facility, or applied on agricultural land under the authorization of a Non-Agricultural Source Material (NASM) Plan. Conditions within the ECA require that the facility ensure that the digestate is sampled, tested and meets quality requirements of either the ECA or the NASM Plan of the receiving site.

Amount of waste at the facility and cumulative effects: The 900,000 metric tonnes (MT) per year figure should not be interpreted as 900,000 MT/year of new external organic waste. A substantial portion of the permitted quantity represents existing Greenfield’s and Chatham-Kent Public Utility Commission’s process wastewater and other material streams already generated and managed at their respective site.

This project is intended to improve the treatment and environmental management of these existing streams through enclosed processing, anaerobic digestion, wastewater treatment, secondary containment, stormwater controls and renewable energy recovery. Potential impacts to groundwater, surface water, stormwater and other environmental receptors have been addressed through the respective ECA applications and supporting technical studies submitted to MECP.

Monitoring, reporting and inspection: Conditions within the Waste ECA requires the performance of routine inspections of the facility to ensure that the facility is operating as required by the ECA. The facility shall monitor and keep records of the waste activities that occur at the Site; such as all waste quality and quantity that is received and sent from the site, as well as any environmental and operational problems occurred at the site and how these were resolved. A summary of the facility’s operation shall be provided to the Ministry on an annual basis.