The Municipality of Chatham-Kent is considering several ways to fight back against the Dresden landfill.
CK's council met on Monday for the first time since Bill 5 was passed at Queen's Park, ultimately removing all environmental assessment (EA) requirements for the project.
They approved calling on the province to reverse it's decision and if they don't to conduct all necessary environmental studies and properly consult with the public and Indigenous communities.
There's very little optimism the province will follow through with the request, so council also approved different avenues the municipality can take to challenge the project, which includes potential legal action.
Instead of starting its own legal battle, the municipality will reach out to other communities and groups who may be considering heading to court.
"If you get all these parties together... more voices are better," said CK Mayor Darrin Canniff.
Dave Taylor, CK's Director of Legal Services, mentioned during Monday's meeting that the municipality hasn't had any conversations with other groups about legal action at this time, but has heard that some Indigenous groups are at least considering the idea.
Council is also directing CK's administration to submit a request to Julie Dabrusin, the federal Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, to have the project be designated as one that could potentially impact federally protected species and habitats, as well as Indigenous nations.
"The federal government could override and say (the province) has to do something from an environmental perspective," added Canniff.
Other tactics council approved include looking into whether the Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights could be used to force a review of the project, hiring a traffic engineer to look into the impact the project would have on local roads, and hiring other environmental experts to study the impact the landfill would have on local water sources, wetlands, and animals.