A grant of $6 million was recently awarded to qathet Regional District to begin closure and cleanup of the old solid-waste facility near Willingdon Beach and the construction of a new resource and recovery centre.
At the site, more commonly known around Powell River as the garbage dump where the old incinerator stood before it was decommissioned, piles of contaminated ash and landfill remain that require remediation.
Currently, the region’s solid waste is disposed of in Washington.
“770 kilometres one way via truck, barge and train, so we have a huge environmental carbon footprint for shipping our waste, and cost,” said city councillor CaroleAnn Leishman, who was recently given the solid-waste portfolio for the city. “We have the highest cost in the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities and I wouldn't be surprised if we're at the highest cost in the province.”
The first part of the grant is to be used for closure and cleanup of the old site where garbage was burned in the incinerator from 1971 to 1994.
“The second part of it is for building a resource-recovery centre to take us into current waste management status,” said regional district asset management and strategic initiatives manager Mike Wall.
The resource-recovery centre will include a commercial-waste transfer station and is expected to use less than half of the land available on the city-owned property. The remainder of the land, approximately three hectares, could then be used as a community amenity for trails, a botanical garden, and overflow parking for events at Willingdon Beach.
According to Wall, the long-term goal for qathet Regional District is to have zero waste requiring disposal. But before anything gets started at the site, the regional district is waiting on the province to approve two items it wants completed this year.
“That is the Ministry of Environment giving us the final approval of our closure plan and they've had it for about two years,” said Wall. “They did give us notice that they're going to try to have it reviewed and approved by the end of October.”
Wall said the regional district must also complete a memorandum of understanding with City of Powell River this year or early next year.
“That's basically how we're laying out the work plan for who is responsible for what, because the site is owned and was operated by the City of Powell River,” said Wall. “There are certain things to get this job done that are going to be on their plate and others that will be on ours.”
