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LETTER: Concerns raised about waste management program

Program has been proposed for Summerland landfill site
web1_170316-SUM-Typewriter

Dear Editor:

It has been brought to my attention by concerned Summerland residents that a Solid Waste Management program is being proposed at our Summerland landfill site.

This seems like a significant undertaking and will have consequences for local and less local residents.

1. Fuel consumption and exhaust resulting from transport of solid waste must be carefully considered when determining how far such waste should be collected from versus constructing more smaller treatment areas closer to the source or a more central deposit site.

2. Any waste facility is bound to attract wildlife, such as bears, so such sites should be located in areas with minimal human habitation in order to save the lives of wildlife and reduce human/wildlife interactions. Summerland has acquired a newer wildlife issue in the form of rats which would also be attracted to such sites and would be extremely difficult to exclude from any structure.

3. Extremely careful consideration must be taken to ensure that municipal water sources and wilderness water ways are not affected in any way. We live near the water treatment plant and there are a myriad of subterranean water sources which could easily be contaminated and are shifting regularly over the course of years.

4. Such sites must take into account the local residents and their well being. This would require having the site far enough away to create a no odour issue for residents.

5. The roadways along Prairie Valley are already in poor shape. The added traffic from more heavy vehicles would require a significant upgrade to make the passage safe to travel.

6. Prairie Valley is, by definition, a valley which would naturally have an air flow pattern carrying the odours right into Summerland town. This became evident when the original settling ponds at the landfill were set up several years ago.

7. Food scrap carts are a wonderful idea to decrease our landfill volume but would need to be wildlife proof in most areas in Summerland.

Other questions which come to mind:

1. What is the economic benefit to Summerland to compensate for costs incurred by this project (e.g., road maintenance)? What is meant by “Taxation: Summerland Council to determine if exempted or commercial”?

2. In the Solid Waste Management Plan – April 2017, it is stated that “A regional facility would be large enough to afford strict odour control technology including composting all materials in a building or under cover.” This is reiterated in the RDOS File No.: 0620.07 “composting would take place within a building or cover that will stop rainwater.” I would suspect the “in building” and “under cover” could have significantly different odour control capabilities.

Knowing which option will be used could help alleviate the local odour concern.

Otherwise it could be assumed that the “building” plan would probably not turn out to be feasible for some reason or another and we, as residents, would have lost the option to press for another solution.

Dru Sullivan

Summerland