Dear Editor:
In the Aug. 31 issue of the Summerland Review Alicia Nightingale stated that she was proud that Summerland had been selected by Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen as the primary choice for a regional composting site.
Ms. Nightingale is quite correct that composting of kitchen and garden waste does reduce pressure on the Summerland landfill.
What Ms. Nightingale did not acknowledge is that every community in the RDOS already carries out their own composting programs at their own landfills. That includes Penticton, Oliver, Osoyoos and Princeton.
What is driving this need for a regional composting site?
Well maybe it is because the Campbell Mountain landfill site in Penticton is reaching capacity and Penticton has not been able to find an alternative?
Penticton also generates what is euphemistically referred to as “bio solids,” or sewage, from its wastewater treatment plant. It appears that if this proposal proceeds then Summerland would be the home of sewage treatment for Penticton, Oliver and Osoyoos.
In 2016 the population of RDOS was 83,022 while the current population of Summerland is 11,615.
Summerland landfill could see an increase of 714 per cent in volume immediately.
Using the RDOS growth projection of 36 per cent over 25 years means that the population feeding the proposed sewage and compost facility would increase to 112,909 or 972 per cent above the current level.
Accepting a regional compost site here in Summerland means accepting compost and sewage from up to 112,000 people being trucked along one of our main arteries, through residential zones, past two schools and being deposited near our most significant tourist attraction, the Kettle Valley Railway, for the next 25 years.
Are Summerlanders prepared to be the dumping ground for the region?
Grant A. Thompson
Summerland