Bradford is looking to take out the trash before it can make its way into the West Holland River.
During the regular meeting of council on Tuesday evening, Dec. 5., and based on a recommendation from the green initiatives advisory committee, council committed to consider as much as $30,000 as part of the 2024 budget to fund a two-year pilot program in which 30 litter traps would filter trash from storm drains.
The traps are intended to protect the environment by preventing litter and other debris from flowing into storm drains and making its way into rivers and wetlands.
“This simple solution — for a very modest amount of money — will significantly reduce waste entering into our watershed, protecting our ecosystems,” Ward 2 Coun. and committee chair Jonathan Scott said via email.
The committee made the recommendation to council based on a report from Frank Jonkman, drainage superintendent, in which he noted that about “40 per cent of the stormwater in Bradford West Gwillimbury is uncontrolled and discharged directly into the West Holland River.”
To address the issue, each trap uses a mesh basket set into a sealed housing installed in a drain to allow water to continue flowing through, while trapping and filtering out plastics, trash and sediment.
“It’s also a sensible way to upgrade older infrastructure throughout the older end of town; newer areas of town have systems that are better designed and discharge into stormwater ponds and other control measures,” Scott said. “So, this pilot project will ensure we are essentially retrofitting and upgrading older catch basins in order that they filter out garbage before it pollutes our water.”
While town staff already maintain drains on a rotational basis, Jonkman acknowledged in his report that the traps would require more frequently maintenance, and expected cleaning would need to take place at least twice a year, likely in the late spring and early fall.
As part of that maintenance, Jonkman recommended the trash and other pollutants be tracked as they’re removed in order to measure the impact and effectiveness of the traps.
He also noted the installation of the traps would help the town meet its responsibilities as part of the Consolidated Linear Infrastructure Environmental Compliance Approval (CLI ECA), which requires council to ensure the stormwater system is properly maintained and minimize the adverse effects on the environment and the water quality as a result of the system as well as to monitor for those effects.
The recommendation follows prior efforts to clean up the Holland River and Lake Simcoe recommended earlier this year.
Council approved the recommendation without discussion and is expected to begin budget deliberations in the second week of January.
