Background Information and Documents

On September 30, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) announced it had accepted TransCanada's bid to build a 900 megawatt natural gas-fired power generation facility on Ford-owned lands in southeast Oakville, near Royal Windsor and Ford Drives. This development acted as a catalyst for the town to take more direct action to address a growing concern in the Oakville community: poor air quality.

After a period of public review and comment, the town passed Health Protection Air Quality By-law 2010-035 on February 1, 2010. The purpose of the by-law is to protect the health of Oakville residents from the negative effects of fine particulate matter (fine PM) by collecting information on emissions from facilities within Oakville and implementing regulatory controls for "major emitters" as defined in the by-law. Visit the health protection air quality by-law web page for more information and to view the by-law.
The town has asked the Minister of the Environment (MOE), the Honourable John Gerretsen to intervene immediately to require a more comprehensive individual environmental assessment (EA) for the proposed power plant. Council has also requested information from TransCanada, the OPA and the provincial and federal ministries of the environment on the approval process for the power plant, and any background or environmental studies performed. Documents the town receives are posted in the tables below. Copies of the supporting documents listed at the end of the application can be obtained by contacting communications@oakville.ca.
The town filed an application with the Ontario government under the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) asking the government to institute a new regulation under the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) - or a new air pollution act if need be - that effectively regulates the emissions of airborne fine PM to protect communities from adverse health effects. The requested regulation would establish a limit on the level of concentration of fine PM in an affected airshed, based on known health risks. A pdf of the application is available below, and the bottom table provides the supporting documents.
Earlier this year, Council passed an interim control by-law and official plan amendment to ensure the necessary planning work and study could take place before any power plant over a 10 megawatt capacity could be constructed in Oakville. Ford and TransCanada appealed the by-law and official plan amendment to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), and on December 4, the OMB issued a decision that upheld the town's interim control by-law, but struck down the official plan amendment.

TransCanada has made a draft Environmental Review Report (ERR) (reproduced in the table below) and supporting technical documents available for public review . The final ERR will be released in the coming months and will be available for public review and comment for a 75-day period.

For more information, please visit the Oakville Generating Station page on TransCanada's website.

The town released a response (pdf) to the draft ERR on March 10, 2010.

EBR Application - Supporting Documents

Part A - Relevant studies on PM10 and PM2.5 (pdf, 4 MB)
The Illness Costs of Air Pollution - Ontario Medical Association
"ICAP 2005 Speaking Notes from OMA President Dr. G. Flynn" - Ontario Medical Association
Cleaning the air: How epidemiology, engineering, and experiment fingered fine particles as airborne killers - Harvard Magazine
Ontario ICAP Model Version 2.0: Software Refinements and Revised Provincial Damage Estimates - DSS Managment Consultants Inc.
The math of air pollution done - with dire results: OMA dollar estimates off the chart for 'pain and suffering' this year - Medical Post
Particulate Matter and Sulfate: Evaluation of Current California Air Quality Standards with respect to Protection of Children - California Office of Environmental health Hazard Assessment

Part B - Relevant government publications - Vol. 1 (pdf, 9 MB)
Letter from Norman W. Sterling, MOE, to Ms. Carol Browner, USEPA
Submissions filed by the Honourable Norman Sterling entitled "National Ambient Air Quality Standards Proposed Decision on Particulate Matter and Ozone"
"Sterling says proposed US smog standards not tough enough" - Ministry of Environment article
Ambient Particulate matter: An Overview - Environment Canada
Procedure for Preparing an Emission Summary and Dispersion Modelling Report - Ministry of the Environment
Ontario's Smog Plan - Ministry of the Environment

Part B - Relevant government publications - Vol. 2 (pdf, 5.1 MB)
Compendium of Current Knowledge on Fine Particulate Matter in Ontario - Ministry of the Environment

Part B - Relevant government publications - Vol. 3 (pdf, 7.9 MB)
Proposal for an Interim Ambient Air Quality Criterion for an Inhalable Particulate matter - Ministry of the Environment
Ministry of the Environment Decision re Airborne Contaminant Discharge - Monitoring and Reporting
Statement of Environmental Values - Ministry of the Environment
Interim Ambient Air Quality Criterion for PM10
Annual Report 2003/2004 - Environmental Commissioner of Ontario
Ontario's Clean Air Action Plan: Protecting Environmental and Human Health in Ontario - Ontario Minister of the Environment
Getting Results for Ontario: Progress Report 2004 - Government of Ontario
Transboundary Pollution in Ontario - Ministry of the Environment

Part B - Relevant government publications - Vol. 4 (pdf, 1.2 MB)
National Ambient Air Quality Objectives for Particulate Matter - Science assessment document
Priority Substances List Assessment Report for Respirable Particulate Matter less than or Equal to 10 Microns - Environment Canada
Canada-wide Standards for Particulate Matter and Ozone - Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment

Part B - Relevant government publications - Vol. 5 (pdf, 1.1 MB)
Interim Plan 2001 on Particulate Matter and Ozone - Environment Canada
Air Quality in Ontario 2003 Report - Ministry of the Environment

Part B - Relevant government publications - Vol. 6 (pdf, 1.6 MB)
Human Health Effects of Fine Particulate Matter: Update in Support of the Canada-Wide Standards for Particulate Matter and Ozone - Health Canada

Part B - Relevant government publications - Vol. 7 (pdf, 6 MB)
Health Aspects of Air Pollution with Particulate matter, Ozone and Nitrogen Dioxide - Report on a WHO Working Group
"Agenda for Action on Air and health" - Toronto Board of Health
Commission of the European Communities, laying down the Community Environment Action Programme 2001-2010
Summary of Critical Issues in the Transboundary Region - Report from the International Air Quality Advisory Board

Part B - Relevant government publications - Vol. 8 (pdf, 1.62 MB)
Particulate Matter Air Pollution: How it harms health - fact sheet
Communication for the European Communities, Thematic Strategy on air pollution
"Smog" - City of Toronto website

Part C - Relevant litigation documents on fine particulate matter (pdf, 4.1 MB)
Thurston Affidavit
Thurston Reply Affidavit
MOE Director Affidavit (Parish, Shaw)
Excerpts from cross-examination of MOE Director
SERRA Divisional Court Judgement
SERRA Ontario Court of Appeal Judgment

Part D - Relevant Ontario laws and regulations (pdf, 362 kB)
Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993, S.O. 1993, c. 28, s. 11
O.Reg. 73/94
Environmental Protection Act, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 337 "Ambient Air Quality Criteria
Environmental Protection Act, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 346
Environmental Protection Act, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 127/01
Environmental Protection Act, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 419/05

Part E - Relevant laws and regulations from other jurisdictions (pdf, 64 kB)
Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
N.B. Reg. 97-923, s.25, Nov. 20, 1997