Province signals Upper York Sewage Solutions project may be off the table

By: Mike Anderson

The province is considering pulling the plug on the Upper York Sewage Solutions (UYSS) project, a state-of-the-art sewage treatment plant slated to be built in East Gwillimbury to service future growth in Aurora, Newmarket and East Gwillimbury.

The controversial project – budgeted at $715 million, and which so far has incurred more than $100 million in costs — would discharge up to 40 million litres of treated sewage daily into the East Holland River, which flows directly into Lake Simcoe.

In a confidential letter sent to York Regional Council on July 17, which was recently released to the public, Environment Minister Jeff Yurek said that although the final decision on the UYSS environmental assessment was still pending, the province would now consider sending the sewage south to the Duffin Creek plant in Pickering for treatment — which was the original plan before the previous Liberal government instructed the Region to find a “Lake Simcoe” solution to wastewater servicing.

“I have instructed my staff to re-examine all options originally considered for this project,” said Minister Yurek. “This may result in a return to the southern route connecting with the Duffin Creek Water Pollution Control Plant.”

The letter also states that the Minister is prepared to draft special legislation to expedite an alternative route — similar to Bill 171, Building Transit Faster Act, 2020, which will speed-up construction of subway lines in Toronto, in part by changing the environmental assessment process.

“This approach has merit,” said Minister Yurek. “I want to assure you my ministry and I are working quickly to find the best solution that meets the needs of York Region while maintaining strong environmental protections.”

“I appreciated the urgency in completing this work and the fact that there is one expressed need to have a solution in place for 2026. I’m committed to doing what we can to meet this timeline.”

In an internal memo addressed to York Regional Council on Nov 26, the Region’s Environmental Services Department noted that the province has begun discussions with Durham Region, which co-owns the Duffin Creek Plant with York Region.

However, those discussions may be off to a rocky start. A staff report to Durham Regional Council on Nov 25, recommends that Durham should continue to support the prefered solution outlined in the UYSS EA, which includes “an advanced treatment system in the Lake Simcoe watershed within the Regional Municipality of York.”

Still, Regional Coun. Rob Grossi is confident that a southern route will eventually prevail.

“When the ministry sends a letter like that and gives a directive with respect to both York and Durham Region, I think the writing is on the wall,” said Mr. Grossi.

“It was a bad directive in the first place; it is the difference between servicing those communities with a thimble versus an Olympic sized swimming pool,” he said.

“The Duffin Creek plant is almost a billion-dollar investment on behalf of York and Durham Region. It is both technically and environmentally one of the most advanced facilities in the world, and the original intent was for the growth in these areas of York Region to go there.”

Former Ward 3 Coun. Dave Szollosy, who, together with former Ward 2 Coun. Phil Craig, pushed to have public meetings on UYSS after York Region initially denied public input from Georgina residents, is also optimistic that UYSS may be dead in the water.

“The news that the province is going to take away the restrictions imposed upon the region regarding the UYSS project is absolutely wonderful,” he said.

“It certainly is something that I worked on in council with Rob when he was Mayor. I’m glad to see that it will return to the original plan, which was to go down the York Durham pipe to Duffin Creek.”

Mr. Szollosy also credits the Chippewas of Georgina Island FN, who have steadfastly opposed the project, with the province’s apparent about-face.

“I know the CGIFN have been very adamant and consistent in their position that there has been inadequate consultation, and the provincial government recognized that as a stumbling block to approval. A lot of credit has to go to the Chippewas on their deep concern with the wellbeing of the community, especially on Georgina Island, who’ve been on a boil-water advisory for years now.”

Jack Gibbons, Chair of the North Gwillimbury Forest Alliance, is also supportive of the province’s change in direction.

“The proposed UYSS project is not in the public interest since it would dump more phosphorus pollution into Lake Simcoe from Aurora, Newmarket and East Gwillimbury,” Mr. Gibbons said.

“We are very pleased that it now appears that the provincial government is planning to reject this project, which would harm Lake Simcoe. But the province needs to do much more to protect Lake Simcoe. Lake Simcoe’s phosphorus pollution needs to be reduced by 55% to stop the growth of weeds and algae blooms and to protect our cold-water fishery. It is time for the Ford Government to develop a plan and a budget to do so by 2026.”

While the plant would contribute to Lake Simcoe’s phosphorous levels, the Region has consistently argued that the impact would not be significant.

Through the use of advanced water technologies, including reverse osmosis, the Region argued that the plant would reduce phosphorus levels to “a very low 0.02 milligrams of phosphorus per litre,” which would total approximately 300 kg of total phosphorus (TP) per year – the Holland Landing lagoons, which the UYSS would replace, currently add about 50 kg of TP per year.

According to the Region, that impact would also be mitigated by a “project-specific” total phosphorus offset program, which would “significantly” reduce Lake Simcoe’s phosphorus levels.

But for opponents of the project, any additional phosphorus is unacceptable, especially when phosphorus targets set out by the Lake Simcoe Protection Plan (LSPP) are currently not being met.

There are also concerns that, despite micro filtration processes, the plant would discharge unacceptable levels of pharmaceuticals, microplastics and personal care products, which would have impacted the Lake’s fragile ecosystem and fish habitats.

“A lot of the issues that we as a council, the CGIFN and the public raised about personal products, medications, and microplastics were never answered. There was never a satisfactory answer for any of those concerns,” Mr. Szollosy said.

“The proponents of the plant were caught in several indefensible points. For example, saying that dumping more phosphorus into the Lake will result in a decreased amount of phosphorous is painfully absurd. Simply by saying it’s more diluted coming in this way doesn’t mean that you’re not increasing the total mass of phosphorus going in. And then discounting people’s concerns about personal products and medications was disingenuous on the part of the scientific proponents as well.”