The regional district could be looking at shelling out an extra $3.4 million if a new set of provincial guidelines goes through as proposed.
The Ministry of Environment is updating its Landfill Criteria for Municipal Solid Waste, a document outlining how landfills are to be constructed, operated and monitored to ensure the environment would be protected. The original document was released in 1993 and a new draft released last December is intended to "reflect updates to regulatory requirements and emphasize a more prescriptive standard of landfill operating practices," according to regional district environmental services manager Petra Wildauer.
However, the proposed one-size-fits-all approach is problematic for the Regional District of Fraser-Fort George and other local governments that operate landfills.
"This leaves facility operators no flexibility to manage operations on a risk-based assessment and hinders meaningful improvements to environment protection," said Wildauer.
The four sites the regional district is responsible for are the Foothills Boulevard Regional Landfill, the Mackenzie regional landfill, and regional select landfills at Legrand and Valemount.
"There appears to be no good rationale other than if we multiply the number of reports and increase your capital costs, there's going to be some perception that someone's doing a good job," said Coun. Dave Wilbur.
Significant changes include the need for landfill sites to undergo a third-party review within the next five years. Groundwater monitoring efforts would have to double. Currently, the practice is carried out by a qualified professional on a biannual sampling and reporting basis, with adjustments made according to results.
Specific construction and design standards as well as material requirements will have to be met at all sites to manage and treat surface water. While in place at Foothills, regional district staff have said implementing them at the other sites would be excessive.
Landfill gas collection would have to meet an efficiency rate of 75 per cent, which isn't technically feasible Wildauer said. As a natural attenuation site, Foothills doesn't have a liner and relies on natural soils to filter, dilute or prevent leachate from contaminating groundwater.
All sites would be required to have a perimeter fence, and if bears are possible, an electric fence.
"At a remote, select waste site such as Legrand Regional Select Landfill this would be an onerous task with no real benefit," Wildauer said.
All of the regional district long-term plans would have to be reviewed and approved by a third party, including the integrated landfill management and the long-term financial plan.
"Bottom line would be an increase to the operational and capital costs and the facility would be out of compliance," Wildauer said.
Those costs would come from increased monitoring, capital investment and the need for more consultants.
Overall annual operating costs for the four sites would increase by $180,000, consulting service fees would go up to $415,000 and new capital costs would top $2.6 million.
The board agreed to send a letter to the ministry outlining their concerns, but some directors also expressed an interest in having the issue championed by the North Central Local Government Association as well as the Union of B.C. Municipalities.
A working group dissecting the issue has also been created by the B.C. and Yukon chapter of the Solid Waste Association of North America.
The ministry is accepting comment on the draft criteria until May 31.
