Dear Editor:
People in Summerland are struggling against a Regional District proposal for a regional composting site to be located up near our Summerland landfill and water source.
The word “compost” has a feel-good environmental ring to it until one realizes that we’re not only talking about vegetable matter but also about human sewage and hospital waste.
Some residents weren’t able to go to the long meeting regarding this composting proposal sponsored by the Regional District in the IOOF hall. I listened attentively until the meeting ended.
There was a lengthy powerpoint presentation by a pleasant RDOS representative.
The presenter was unable to answer the many technical questions, but he did say the RDOS would not pay for upgrading Prairie Valley Road. However, he may have been wrong about that.
The presenter talked about having done odour tests. These tests were done at the Summerland Research Station with computer modelling, not at the actual site where the wind currents are very different.
After reading the write-ups from scientists who looked at the same idea for Merritt, I came to the conclusion that the Summerland site is not a good idea, even from the traffic standpoint alone, and also when I read about the chemistry of the composted material.
A proposed study of our Summerland site was said to cost $63,000. If that amount of money is spent, the RDOS will want to go forward with their proposal.
That’s why I and many others oppose doing the preliminary study. If we get the composting site with sewage and hospital waste from the whole South Okanagan, the RDOS will have control over the site. Summerland will not have control.
Since the costs of establishing this facility will be large, even if the project proves detrimental to Summerland, we will have a hard time getting rid of it.
So far, we only have a proposal from the RDOS regarding central sewage processing here, not a plan set in motion.
If there is to be a central composting site, it should be away from a residential area and trucks should not be going past two schools and a residential area on a narrow road where it already is difficult to pass another vehicle.
The proposed number of trucks here was 25 a day, coming and going. But the South Okanagan’s population is expanding. Soon it could be 50 trucks or more a day with possible leakage at some points.
This last weekend, I was billeted at the home of the mayor of Revelstoke for a conference in that city. The mayor said that part of Revelstoke is on septic tanks. Part is connected to the sewer system. Same for Summerland. The Revelstoke human waste is composted and put far enough away from town on their considerable forest lands. That’s the compost from only one municipality, not from a large region.
Many of us oppose having the regional composting site in Summerland. I’d be willing to wager that no Summerland politician who approves of the regional composting project being in Summerland will get elected.
Marilyn Hansen
Summerland