THE PROPOSED BYLAW on the county’s solid household waste is obviously meant to accomplish little more than to ensure that the proposed energy from waste (EFW) facility at Dufferin Eco Energy Park (DEEP) has a garbage stream.

Although we are less than convinced that the municipalities of Amaranth, Melancthon Mono and Mulmur would send all of their garbage to the new facility if or when it has been commissioned, it’s certain there’ll come a time when they will need the facility.

That time might come sooner than anyone thinks. None of the landfills that exist in those communities has the capability of collecting the methane gas they produce. Methane, as anyone knows, is a “greenhouse gas” and most likely a serious contributor to global warming.

Although the old dumps are fully licensed, we cannot imagine that the provincial government will forever disregard the problem. As former Mulmur reeve Isabel Ireland observed some years ago, “they could shut us down anytime.”

While the passing of the bylaw on waste might not immediately garner the total but modest local garbage supply, it would show prospective investors that there is countywide support for the thermal facility. It is our understanding that such support is a vital factor in the feasibility study.

It might also serve to convince such neighbouring municipalities as Wellington, Grey and Simcoe that Dufferin is finally getting serious about doing something positive in waste management.

We can well imagine that the authorities in those counties are saying they’ve heard it all before. They’ve been hearing it for decades from this county.

Accordingly, we would urge all the lower tier councils to vote in favour of the proposed waste bylaw.