Ontario Greens and community advocates are calling on the Ford government to keep Brampton safe from toxic air pollution from the Emerald incinerator, according to a Green Party of Ontario statement issued November 2 from Queen's Park.
Greens leader Mike Schreiner, MPP Aislinn Clancy and Steve Papagiannis of the Brampton Environmental Alliance called for action on the facility. Clancy said Brampton residents have been warning about the health and environmental impacts of the Emerald Incinerator for years, and that the government has ignored them.
Emerald EFW, the company that owns the incinerator, was given the green light by the province to seek a permit for a massive expansion despite repeated calls from the community to conduct an environmental assessment first. Experts have warned that incinerators release an array of highly toxic chemicals that could cause serious health impacts for residents, especially young children.
The advocates echoed the Brampton Environmental Alliance's call to introduce proper safeguards, like monitoring and reporting mechanisms, to keep people safe from toxic air pollution. They argued the Emerald incinerator sits in the middle of a major metropolitan centre and will affect the quality of life of residents in the GTA, and called on the government to listen to communities and develop a waste management strategy that keeps people safe.