Tomlinson says it will pay to clean up contaminated water leaking from Springhill dump

Tomlinson has confirmed to the City of Ottawa it will foot the bill to clean up contaminated water that has leached and allegedly spread from the Springhill landfill it privately operates in the Osgoode area — a task the auditor general has predicted could cost $7 or $8 million.

A report released two weeks ago by Auditor General Ken Hughes tore a strip off the city’s contract with Tomlinson for Springhill’s operation and flagged the alarming condition of the wetland surrounding the landfill, which the provincial ministry of environment has described as “one of the worst in eastern Ontario.”

The city and the province have been working to finalize a plan to clean up the area around the landfill, which the city owns. In a letter to Ottawa City Manager Steve Kanellakos two days ago, Kevin Cinq-Mars, president of the Tomlinson Group of Companies, asserted the firm is “committed” to collaborating on that plan, and acknowledged it is “obligated” to pay to clean up the environmental contamination that occurred on its watch.

“The issue of cost is not of dispute and will be paid by Tomlinson as per our agreement,” the letter, dated June 25, confirmed.

At the behest of the city, which moved to deal with the “worsening” contamination in late 2017, Tomlinson hasn’t been accepting waste at the Springhill dump since May 4, 2018.

The auditor general’s Springhill report was discussed at city council Wednesday, with an update from Kanellakos on what’s happened since the document’s release.

The report, among other things, alleged Tomlinson was unwilling to cooperate with city staff over many years on the Springhill file, and went as far as to suggest the city should consider blacklisting the group of infrastructure and waste management companies from bidding on future municipal contracts.

Kanellakos said he’s had two meetings with Tomlinson brass in recent weeks, including Cinq-Mars. He described their discussions as “collaborative” and “frank.”

The city manager told councillors that the power to ban Tomlinson from doing business with the city remains leverage staff can invoke if the company doesn’t play ball moving forward.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson made similar comments after council’s meeting, saying the city will continue to work with Tomlinson “in the short term” on other ongoing contracts but will watch how it responds to outstanding Springhill issues.

“If we’re not satisfied with the progress to clean up that site, stabilize it and return the dollars needed to make taxpayers whole, that’s one of the options we have, is to withhold business,” Watson told reporters.

While acknowledging the Springhill matter has been “difficult,” some councillors and city staff have waded into the controversy to defend Tomlinson’s overall performance, arguing the company has a “very strong record” in its other projects and partnerships with the city.

The report also blasted the city’s management of the Springhill contract since it inherited the agreement from the former Township of Osgoode after amalgamation.

Coun. Rick Chiarelli pressed city staff a number of times Wednesday on what they have been doing to improve their contract management practices. Staff said the improvements are a work in progress and will be city-wide — not just in areas that have been audited.

Watson conceded the Springhill file “was not handled well at all” and “was not properly enforced” from the start, but he’s “proud” the city “sent the auditor in” to properly review the contract.

Tomlinson claims AG’s report contains factual errors

Cinq-Mars took several jabs at the auditor general’s report in his recent letter, claiming it contains factual errors.

The Tomlinson executive again refuted the finding that the company did not provide financial documents requested repeatedly by city staff, who wanted to assess whether the municipality was actually receiving the royalty payments it was entitled to under the Springhill contract.

Cinq-Mars said the company isn’t aware of any “outstanding” financial information.

“Over the past number of years Tomlinson has provided thousands of pages of financial information through the course of our agreement including copies of every single scale ticket for all material received at the site,” the letter said. “Recently the City requested additional financial information that we provided within days.”

Asked about this disagreement, Watson called it a “he-said-she-said” dispute but spoke positively of Tomlinson’s recent letter.

“I think that was a first good step by the company to recognize that they have some make up to do with respect to dollars and how they handled the operation at Springhill,” he said.