Town makes plans to grow landfill

November 5, 2008

The Blue Mountains is seeking approval from the Ministry of Environment for expansion and mining projects at the current landfill site in order to make the site last for another 25 years.

Jeffrey Fletcher, manager of solid waste and environmental initiatives for the town, said at the rate things are going now, the site, without any modifications, will reach capacity in three or four years.

The plan is to ask the MOE for permission to expand the capacity by 100,000 cubic metres, and to mine the current site to regain an additional 100,000 cubic metres.

The expansion could come in several forms. The town may expand the outer boundaries of the footprint and/or change the elevation of the current site. Mining involves sorting through what is already in the site, using newer technology to re-compact it all and removing excessive fill.

Fletcher noted this is also an opportunity to put in place a better collection system for the leachate that may flow outside of the footprint. Leachate is essentially rainwater that flows through the waste and becomes tainted. There are measures now, including liners and landscaping methods to prevent this tainted water from having a negative effect on the environment surrounding land fill sites.

The current maximum capacity of the site is 380,000 cubic metres.

The town is currently engaged in a proposal process with a consulting group to take ideas and plans to the MOE for approval. Once they are granted approval, the town will then begin to plan the engineering and the science of the projects with the help of a consulting group.

Fletcher says this process won't begin until September 2009.

The town began using the land in the current site in the 1970s; Fletcher said they probably didn't start thinking about measuring the use and estimating the life of the site until the 1980's.

Now the town is required to submit annual reports and conduct regular tests to determine the health of the site, the surroundings and the projected lifespan of the site.

According to Fletcher, there are now about 60 or so conditions included on a certificate of approval for a municipal landfill site. This is in addition to the regulations and guidelines in the Environmental Protection Act.

The town met with local residents in close proximity to the site to notify them of the plans for expansion and get some feedback.

"They understood that it's a necessary evil," said Fletcher. "They want to see that, if anything, things will be improved."

Fletcher says that with the expansion and mining projects approved, they will be able to make the site better by reducing dust and odours, and they have already begun to make the improvements to the visual appearance of the site.

Last week a team from the town planted evergreen trees in a line on one of the ridges at the front of the site. Fletcher has more plans for improvement, including a more efficient drop-off area for residents wishing to bring waste to the site themselves.

Fletcher said the town will continue to have public meetings throughout the process, and hopes to get feedback from local residents.

When the town first started drafting a long-term plan for waste management, it looked at several options.

Fletcher said the town was too small to have an incineration facility, and sending waste outside of the municipality was a costly venture. He added that most of the feedback the town received already from a survey and from public meetings indicated that residents felt it was important to deal with the waste locally.

"I suppose landfill in general is a con," said Fletcher. "But it's the best way we've come up with to deal with our waste problem ... We have to deal with a problem without having the ability to deal with the cause of the problem."

The expansion and mining projects should make the site last another 25 to 30 years. Fletcher adds that this estimate is dependent on several external factors.

It is dependent on a 60-per-cent waste diversion rate and although there is some buffer room, Fletcher says he knows much of the commercial waste doesn't come to the local site, but is sent elsewhere, and those options may be disappearing in the near future, especially if the waste is sent across the border.

If the town is not approved for the two projects, the site will be full in about three years, and the only other option for the town will be to send the waste to an outside location, which will cost taxpayers more.