Dear Editor:
The Summerland Review and District of Summerland continue to refer to the proposed regional facility at the Summerland landfill as a “composting facility.”
This is a warm and fuzzy term authored by the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen. What they really mean to say is the “sewage and compost treatment facility.”
What is the driver for this project?
Well it is certainly not driven by the needs of the citizens of Summerland. It is driven by the needs of Penticton.
The B.C. Ministry of Environment has cited the Campbell Mountain landfill in Penticton for non compliance for its excessive methane production.
Penticton, with the support of the RDOS, hired a consultant to review the situation and to identify possible solutions to their methane production.
The consultant identified three possible solutions: venting and burning of the methane onsite; capturing and selling the methane to a third party; capping the landfill and diverting future sewage and compost waste to a new site.
Penticton decided to cap and divert. But divert to where?
The RDOS stepped up and started the process of searching for a suitable site to process sewage and compostables on behalf of Penticton.
Since the RDOS represents the entire region they planned for a larger facility that would process all of the sewage and compostable generated in the region.
But wait, there’s more!
There’s more sewage looking for a home. The West Kelowna and Peachland sewage treatment plant serves a population of 42,000.
Their sewage is trucked to a farm near Red Deer, Alta. If trucking costs to Alberta are $2,000 a load and to Summerland is only $150 per load how long until Summerland sees sewage from another 42,000 people sloshing up Prairie Valley Road?
So when you read the proposed compost facility remember that it is all about sewage.
Grant Thompson
Summerland