Author: Councillor Brad Clark

The Hamilton Spectator is reporting the following:

The owner of an odour-plagued Stoney Creek dump has pleaded guilty to three environmental charges issued following a slew of resident complaints.

In provincial offences court on Thursday, GFL Environmental Inc. pleaded guilty to the charges under the Environmental Protection Act related to odour complaints and discharge of air contaminants — in particular, sulphurous gases recognizable as a “rotten egg smell” — at the landfill, at the northwest corner of Mud Street and Upper Centennial Parkway. 

Seven more charges were withdrawn.

The charges date back to the so-called “summer of stink” in 2023, when hundreds of resident complaints were lodged during a notoriously smelly period.

The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) also fined the operator more than $361,000 in May, related to “odour impacts” on five occasions between May and July last year.

And, in recent weeks, dozens of civil lawsuits have been filed against the operator.

Previous offences, as well as the company’s size and scope, were among the factors that influenced fines totalling $775,000 — plus victim surcharge and court costs — including $475,000 for a conviction related to discharging a contaminate “that caused or was likely to cause an adverse effect” between April and November of 2023, said MECP counsel Katie Clements, who appeared over Zoom.

“GFL has a number of prior convictions,” she said.

The other two convictions related to air pollutants exceeding provincial standards, including at an adjacent park, cost the company $150,000 each.

Fines for a repeat offender range from a minimum of $100,000 and a maximum of $10 million per day.

GFL counsel Rosalind Cooper, who also appeared by video, said GFL has worked to make improvements, including a commitment “at significant cost” to creating a permanent, enclosed leachate treatment system and decommissioning a pond, set for this winter.

Justice of Peace Sharon Floyd asked whether these steps would ensure no similar matters come before the court.

“That is exactly the reason for undertaking this process,” Cooper replied.

Meanwhile, the city is seeking a court order that would require GFL to close the landfill for up to two years, court documents show.

The order also seeks a declaration that odours from the 65 Green Mountain Rd. W. property constitute — and that GFL “ought to have known” it would constitute — a public nuisance and that GFL has “failed to take adequate steps to eliminate” it, reads the application dated June 19.

Lawyers notified the courts on July 7 the company intends to respond.

Neither GFL nor its lawyers responded to a Spectator request for comment by deadline.

Trying to use the courts to shutter a business as a “public nuisance” is a legal first in Hamilton, approved by council in a November 2025 vote.

The landfill, which has been used as a dump since 1996 under multiple owners, is the only industrial waste facility in the largely residential area that is home to parks — including the adjacent Heritage Green Sports Park with multiple soccer fields and baseball diamonds — trails, restaurants and schools, the application states.

Following a 2019 approval for “significant” expansion — increasing capacity by 50 per cent and lifespan by 10 to 15 years — “waste began to be stockpiled at increasing heights and became visible from the surrounding areas,” the application reads. It also notes that smelly garbage wasn’t a significant issue before GFL acquired the property in 2021.

In 2023, residents began to notice “persistent and foul odours” coming from the dump, causing what has been called the “summer of stink,” during which 1,109 complaints were submitted to the MECP, according to the application. By the end of 2025, the number of complaints had soared to 4,400, and an online petition for the landfill’s closure had garnered nearly as many signatures.

The “invasive” smells, which residents have likened to “wet garbage, dead fish, cat urine, rotten eggs and chemicals,” have caused headaches, nausea, difficulty breathing, coughing and eye irritation, among other issues, the application reads. Odours have also prevented residents from opening doors and windows, using yards and decks, and participating in outdoor activities, like walking and biking — and caused the Ministry of Education to scrap plans for a new school nearby.

Tatyana Graham, who delegated at city council last November, described feeling “physically trapped” in her home about 300 metres away from the dump.

For those who live closest to the dump, the smell is indoors, too.

Kathleen Taylor, who lives less than a kilometre away, previously told The Spectator she “woke up from a dead sleep gagging,” one night in August 2023 due to a strong cat pee stench.