Residents anticipating the closure of a Cayuga-area landfill may have to wait a few years longer pending the outcome of a capacity expansion application by Brooks Road Environmental. A draft environmental screening report has been completed for the proposed landfill expansion at 160 Brooks Rd. A public comment period is now open, with a final report slated for release in March.
Operator Brooks Road Environmental is seeking to increase the capacity of the existing landfill by approximately 219,400 cubic meters through a combination of vertical and horizontal expansion, bringing the new maximum capacity to 375,000 cubic meters. Proposed changes would see the approved maximum volumetric capacity of the site — including waste and daily cover — expand from 1,045,065 cubic meters to 1,264,465 cubic meters.
The draft environmental screening report notes the capacity change would expand the approved footprint fill area from six hectares to approximately 7.15 hectares and increase the approved maximum elevation of the fill zone, including final cover, from 221.50 meters above mean sea level to 225.66 above mean sea level.
In 2022, Brooks Road Environmental launched an environmental screening process to expand the landfill’s vertical and horizontal capacity for an additional 100,000 cubic metres. That expansion request has since grown following updated provincial waste management regulations adopted last August.