The County of Simcoe has voted strongly to slap a one-year moratorium on construction of a landfill at Site 41, which is located above one of the world's purest aquifers of fresh water.
The council voted 86 per cent in favour of the moratorium on Tuesday.
The dump is being built in Tiny Township, just north of Elmvale. The county approved the start of construction in 2007 by a one-vote margin, but the site was originally selected in the mid-1980s.
Ontario's environment commissioner has told the Globe and Mail he doesn't think the site would have been approved today, but the provincial Liberal government hasn't intervened to stop the project.
Starting in July, activists have been trying to stop the project after excavation began in earnest. They blockaded entrances.
In response, the county sought an injunction against the protesters. The OPP started laying charges of mischief and related offences against the protesters, many of whom are senior citizens living in the area.
The Beausoleil First Nation has also protested the dump, saying if the leachate contaminated the Georgian Bay waters that surround their islands, it would seriously harm their fishing.
The county has argued that for any contaminants to reach the Alliston aquifer, they would have to pass through between three and 12 metres of extremely dense clay.
In addition, other dumps in the county already sit above the same aquifer. County officials have said the protests have been more of a not-in-my-backyard nature.
With files from The Canadian Press
