The Province of Ontario has finally publicly posted the 2023 approval granting American Iron and Metal Company Inc. the continuing ability to operate its own storm sewer system at 139 Steel City Court, near Burlington Street and Parkdale Avenue.
During the 2023 public comment period, Ward 4 City Councillor Tammy Hwang’s office sought to review AIM’s submission documents and encountered numerous road blocks.
“On June 5, 2023, we reached out to the District Manager, Hamilton District, to ask for the supporting material so that we could make an informed comment, as per the Environmental Bill of Rights.”
“On June 6, 2023, the Provincial Officer for the Hamilton District advised us to submit a request to review the proposal through the CSPB; we did so on June 13, 2023. On June 15, 2023, we received a response from the Client Service Representative, of the CSPB acknowledging our request, advising us that they would ask the proponent to consent to the release of the information, and also advising us of the process for Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. We requested an update on the file on June 26, 2023, and July 7, 2023, and received a response within 24 hours of each request, letting us know that the consultant had “barred disclosure of any project document without consultation and permission from them. As such it will be necessary to have a written communication with the consultant for the purpose,” and that they were still waiting to hear back from the consultant. Through a phone call with our Provincial Officer and an e-mail to our Members of Provincial Parliament, we were advised on July 7, 2023, by the Provincial Officer that we could come in person to review the application. We reviewed the supporting documents on July 12 and 13, 2023, for a total of 2 hours and 40 minutes, under the supervision of the Provincial Officer at the Hamilton District Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks office. The consultation period closed on July 14, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. This did not provide us with enough time to properly review the supporting documents and to make an informed comment.”
In spite of the challenges listed, Hwang submitted an extensive list of concerns for the Ministry of Environment to consider.
The Ministry posted a generic response.
Production Details
v. 1.0.0
Published: December 20, 2024
Last updated: December 20, 2024
Author: Joey Coleman
Update Record
v. 1.0.0 original version