Industrial Waste Surcharge Agreement and

Compliance Program with Monetary Concession -

Grande Cheese Company Limited (Ward 6)

The Works Committee recommends the adoption of the following report (July 7, 1999) from the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services:

Purpose:

To allow Grande Cheese Company Limited to enter into an Industrial Waste Agreement with the City of Toronto permitting them to discharge overstrength effluent which is amenable to treatment at our treatment plants and pay a surcharge fee; and to issue a Compliance Program with Monetary Concession to the company to allow them to pay 50 percent of the new re-assessed surcharge for three years in order to facilitate the installation of an on-site pretreatment system.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

This Department currently maintains 157 Industrial Waste Surcharge Agreements, which allow for the recovery of approximately $7.5 million per year in additional treatment costs. These charges reflect a user pay philosophy and directly offset the cost of the operation of our treatment plants.

Grande Cheese Company Limited's annual surcharge assessed for 1999 is $421,473.89. By allowing the company to pay at a reduced rate of 50 percent would mean a reduction in revenue of $210,736.95 per year for a total of $632,210.85 for three years.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)the City enter into an Industrial Waste Surcharge Agreement with Grande Cheese Company Limited, 175 Milvan Drive, under terms and conditions satisfactory to the City Solicitor and the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services; and

(2)subject to approval of Recommendation No. (1), a Compliance Program with Monetary Concession be granted to Grande Cheese Company Limited, as described herein, to allow for payment of their re-assessed surcharge less 50 percent of the increase for three years, subject to Grande Cheese Company Limited's investment of the avoided surcharge payment in the purchase and installation of an on-site pretreatment system.

Council Reference/Background/History:

On November 9, 1989, Metropolitan Council, by adoption of Clause No. 6 of Report No. 16 of The Works Committee, authorized execution of agreements with industries permitting them to discharge wastewater in excess of the limits set out under By-law No. 153-89, providing that the overstrength discharges are amenable to treatment at our treatment plants. Industries are required to pay for the additional cost of treatment above the limit of the by-law.

On November 25, 1998, City Council, by adoption of Clause No. 6 of Report No. 10 of The Works and Utilities Committee, amended section 6 of By-law No. 153-89 to allow the owner or operator of industrial premises to apply for a Compliance Program with Monetary Concession by submitting to the Commissioner of Works and Emergency Services a Compliance Program to carry out works or improvements to reduce their waste loading, in order to avoid up to 50 percent of the payment of the new or the increase to the existing agreement, for up to three years. On May 11, 1999, City Council, by adoption of Clause No. 14(b) of Report No. 5 of The Works and Utilities Committee, modified the policy on the eligibility for Compliance Program with Monetary Concession that was adopted by the former Metro Council on August 10 and 11, 1994, to include all new surcharge companies as well as all existing surcharge companies.

Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

The type of waste generated by Grande Cheese Company Limited is biodegradable and amenable to treatment at our treatment plant.

The company has been notified of the annual charge to be levied, and has signified agreement to the amount of the assessment:

Annual Excess

EffectiveYearlyPlant WasteBy-law

Date SurchargeDischargeStrengthLimit

$ m³ mg/Lmg/L

Grande Cheese01/01/98260,928.6882,5105,624300

Company LimitedB.O.D.B.O.D.

The alternative to an Industrial Surcharge Agreement would be to force the industry to comply with the sewer by-law limits for B.O.D. and Suspended Solids, by the addition of effluent pretreatment equipment. This would be an impossibility for many companies due to financial and/or space limitations. Those industries that could afford to install pretreatment systems may have problems with odours or upsets. The Ministry of the Environment acknowledges the need for surcharge agreements in its Model Sewer Use By-Law (1998).

The company's surcharge in 1999 has been reassessed at $421,473.89. On June 24, 1999, Grande Cheese Company Limited submitted an application to have the industrial waste surcharge amount reduced in accordance with section 6 of our Sewer Use By-law No. 153-89.

The company had retained Skorh Enviro-Tech Inc. to undertake a study to evaluate their production processes and develop an effluent B.O.D. reduction process, procure, construct and operate a Dissolved Air Flotation unit and a Reverse Osmosis System to bring their effluent down by 50 percent by December 31, 2001. They have provided us with the following schedule for their Compliance Program:

Compliance Scheduled Scheduled Program Program Activities Start-up Date Completion Date Costs ($)

(a) Process review andMay 1996May 1996$ 10,000

Wastewater Characterization

(b) Treatability StudiesMay 1996May 1997$ 25,000

(c) Design of SystemJune 1997June 1997$ 100,000

DAF and Silos

(d) Installation/ConstructionJuly 1997March 1998$ 300,000

(e) Installation and Start-up ofAugust 1998November 1998$ 120,000

Reverse Osmosis System

(f) Installation of two silos forInstalled$ 35,000

Reverse Osmosis water

retention

(g) Water Polisher to remove Installed $ 80,000

BOD from Reverse Osmosis

Water

(h) 80 ton Chiller, Plate CoolerLate Summer$ 100,000

and Cooling Tower1999

(i) Replacement of Ricotta MachineDecember 2000$ 450,000

to further reduce B.O.D. loading

(j) Studies and Tests to be conductedDecember 2001Unknown

on the reused water, to make it at this time

acceptable for discharge to storm

sewer

Total cost to date$1,220,000

Conclusions:

The overstrength effluent from Grande Cheese Company Limited is organic in nature, biodegradable and amenable to treatment at our treatment plants.

Staff have met with Grande Cheese and they have agreed to enter into an Industrial Waste Surcharge Agreement in accordance with section 5 of our Sewer Use By-law No. 153-89.

Further, in accordance with section 6, Compliance Program, of our Sewer Use By-law No. 153-89, a Compliance Program with Monetary Concession should be issued to Grande Cheese Company Limited to provide a mechanism by which the over-strength effluent which exceeds the by-law limit for B.O.D. can be discharged on 50 percent reduced fee basis while the company implements further wastewater treatment controls.

Contact Name:

Mr. Vic Lim, P.Eng.

Manager, Industrial Waste and Storm Water Quality

Quality Control and System Planning

Telephone: (416) 392-2966; Fax: (416) 397-0908

e-mail: victor_lim@metrodesk.metrotor.on.ca