Arlington Heights C&D Waste

Arlington Heights (AH) Construction & Demolition Landfill in Annapolis County buries toxic waste on a mountain that provides water to 25 downslope domestic wells, irrigation ponds for organic farms, and commercial livestock watering facilities. The entire community of St. Croix Cove is at risk.  Poisoning a water supply and putting the health of 25 families at risk is unacceptable.

The most pressing issues are:

 

    • The site was built in a wetland that powers the North Mountain Aquifer.
    • Most of the toxic waste originates in the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM), 175 kms away, in a clear policy of rural environmental discrimination.
    • The site has never met minimum Provincial environmental requirements for Toxic Waste Disposal.
    • Industrial permits issued to AH contravened the Environment Act.
    • Nova Scotia Environment & Climate Change (NSECC) has failed to enforce both the Act and permit Terms and Conditions.

Erosion revealing esbestos

    • Export of Asbestos waste and Auto Fluff may contravene HRM’s ban on solid waste export.

 

    • Burying Asbestos waste is an out-of-sight out-of-mind “solution” that is hazardous to EVERYONE, and hopelessly out-of-date.

Extensive sedimentation on neighbouring land

    • NSECC knows that silt and toxins have, and continue to migrate far beyond site boundaries.

wetland destroyed by Arlington C&D

Toxic, lifeless, destroyed wetland

    • As a result, 150 million kg of Auto Shredder Residue (Auto Fluff) has been illegally dumped at Arlington, and more arrives daily, while NSECC looked(s) the other way.

Wetland protection destroyed

Erosion revealing esbestos-2

    • There has never been any meaningful community consultation.
    • Toxic waste now contaminates three separate watersheds at Arlington. It is in the dust, the water, the soil, and along the roadsides – it is EVERYWHERE!

What is auto fluff you ask?

Auto fluff (Auto Shredder Residue, ASR) is what’s left after a vehicle has been scrapped and shredded. John Ross Ltd. is the only auto “recycler” in Nova Scotia. ASR is exported from facilities in Dartmouth to many NS landfill sites.  ASR is composed of plastics, polymers, fibers, wood, glass, and rubber, all soaked in residual automotive fluids including anti-freeze, motor oil, brake fluid, AT fluid, and hydrocarbon lubricants. Fluff also contains toxic amounts of heavy metals, including mercury from automotive switches. 

Photos credit Kip McCurdy 2022

For more information, contact or follow Annapolis Waterkeepers

For more information, contact or follow Annapolis Waterkeepers

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