Toronto Works and Emergency Services
The Toronto Works and Emergency Services department was responsible for a variety of services.
The department took over public works departments formerly managed by the former cities in Metro Toronto, as well as waste management portion of Metro Toronto Works.
The division reported to a deputy city manager and with the new executive committee it will report to Glenn De Baeremaeker, chair of Public Works and Infrastructure committee.
Water
Toronto maintains a network of water filtration plants, pumping stations and reservoirs providing water to the city of Toronto. Some facilities are located outside the city, there are two reservoirs and one water tank located in York Region.
See more at Toronto Water.
Sewage
In the past waste water was dumped into the lake and thus caused the waters off Toronto to become polluted. Since then the city has treated water from households and industry and commercial consumers before it returns to Lake Ontario.
Most of the sewage treatment facilities are located along the lake and sludge is sent to dumps and to other facilities in the province:
- Ashbridge's Bay Waste Treatment Plant
- Humber Bay Waste Treatment Plant
- North Toronto Waste Treatment Plant
- Highland Creek Waste Treatment Plant
- Dee Avenue Laboratory
Public works projects initiated by the city involves items like repairing sewers, water networks, and maintaining city facilities.
There are approximately 1600 storm sewers that drain rainwater to creeks in rivers in the city. Accidental runoff from sanitary sewers have led to severe pollution in a number of water ways.
Critical waterways used to drain water in the city include:
- Humber River
- Don River
- Highland Creek
- Taylor-Massey Creek
- Etobicoke Creek
- Black Creek
Solid Waste Management
The city's Solid Waste Management is responsible for picking up garbage and recycling in the city. Most of the services are public with Etobicoke contracted out due to previously signed by the former City of Etobicoke:
Garbage transfer stations
- Bermondsey transfer station
- Commissioner Street transfer station
- Disco transfer station
- Dufferin transfer station
- Ingram transfer station
- Scarborough transfer station
- Victoria Park transfer station
Public Works yards
- Booth
- Disco transfer station
- Ellesmere Yard
- Etobicoke Civic Centre
- Ingram transfer station
- King Street
- Central
- Bermondsey transfer station
- Scarborough transfer station
- Yonge Street
The city once owned landfills in the Greater Toronto Area, but solid waste is now shipped to a landfill the city bought near St. Thomas, Ontario and another facility in Michigan. A list of some of the dumps being used or that were used in past:
- Carleton Farms - Carelton, Michigan
- Green Lane - Southwold, Ontario
- Brock Road in Pickering - closed
- Keele Valley Landfill in Vaughan - closed
- Islington and Finch - closed
- Beare Road - closed
A list of waste management programs applied in Toronto:
Snow Removal
Toronto has budget money and resources for salting and plowing city roads in winter. There are 600 snowplows and 300 sidewalk snow removal equipment run by 1300 personnel.
Fleet
- Sterling Trucks Accetra heavy duty trucks
- Peterbilt 357 dump trucks
- Mack Trucks/Ford road sweepers
- Heil Environmental Industries Limited Formula 7000 Square Body side loader garbage trucks
- Allianz Series 3000 street sweepers
- Ride on street vacuums
- Crane Carrier Corporation side loaders were part of the City of North York's fleet prior to merger of the waste departments in 1998
- Ford F-series pickup trucks
Reorganization
The current structure is as follows:
- Toronto Technical Services Division - environmental, emergency and engineering
- Toronto Support Services Division - planning, financing and administration
Toronto Water is a new body responsible for water and sewage treatment in the city.
The department was formed the merger of the public works departments of each of the municipalities and with Metro Toronto Works Department).
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