Last February I wrote that locating the Vancouver landfill in Delta’s Burns Bog made as much sense as having an outhouse in an urban backyard. At the time I had no idea the statement may have been clairvoyant. Now we see where the City of Vancouver, which has operated the 225-hectare facility since the mid-1960s, wants to use it as an outhouse of sorts.
It proposes to deposit 85,000 cubic metres, or 8,500 dump-truck loads, of sewage sludge (they call it “biosolids”) from the Iona treatment plant onto the landfill’s 12-hectare Phase One closure site. Vancouver has applied in writing to the Ministry of Environment for an amendment of its landfill operational certificate so the sludge from Iona can be used. It said shortages of regular subsoil approved under the original certificate led to its application to use the sludge. The July 20 letter also asked for “a favourable response” from the ministry as quickly as possible because the project’s completion date of Oct. 15, 2009, is closing fast.
Unfortunately, this was the first either senior Delta staff, the municipality’s councillors or taxpayers had heard about the plan to include the use of biosolids.The problem with it is the landfill’s proximity to highly sensitive areas in Burns Bog.I recently toured the site and saw how city engineers are spending a lot of time and money to make sure old garbage in the landfill’s $15-million Phase One closure project won’t leach contaminants into the surrounding bog, Delta’s irrigation system, its nearby farmland and, finally, into Georgia Strait. But the sludge will be placed above a protective plastic membrane as part of a top layer of the site’s reclamation where trees, grasses, etc., will be planted. And despite elaborate ditching, there’s a significant risk that leaching from Iona’s sewage will alter the bog’s delicate chemical balance and pollute Delta’s farm irrigation systems.
“This exposes the ignorance of some politicians to the ecology of Burns Bog,” says Eliza Olson, head of the Burns Bog Conservation Society. “By their nature, bogs are nutrient-poor but they have an incredible ability to absorb and store carbon,” she says. Olson explains that nutrients from the sewage sludge will greatly reduce the bog’s carbon-absorbing ability by changing its chemistry and plant makeup. Acting Delta mayor Scott Hamilton is concerned that the City of Vancouver will use the sewage sludge in subsequent section closures at the landfill. “We’ll definitely seek a court injunction if the ministry approves this application,” he warns. “If this landfill was within the City of Vancouver’s limits, there would be a real public uproar over this proposal,” adds Delta chief administration officer George Harvie. “We’re having our lawyers check our legal standing on the operational agreement.”
However, now that Delta has fired off an angry letter to the environment ministry outlining its strong objections, Vancouver may be backtracking. “Because of Delta’s opposition, we won’t go ahead with the biosolids plan until we’ve talked to them about their concerns and have their support,” Vancouver City engineer Doreann Mayhew told me Monday afternoon.
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