MOOSE JAW — City council agrees that time is running out to find a location for a new landfill, but members disagree on where the new venue should be located.
One rural location is the same spot that administration wanted last year but was unable to acquire after the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw denied the city’s discretionary use application.
Council heard during the meeting that the current landfill’s airspace is expected to be full by about 2030, while it may take six to nine months to negotiate boundary alterations with the RM successfully. If those negotiations fail, then it may take 12 to 18 months to complete a boundary alteration agreement through the province.
“We’re up against the clock,” Coun. Patrick Boyle said.
Boyle acknowledged that this was a difficult decision, but said he preferred one of the rural locations because it was adjacent to Highway 2 and close to the city.
He opposed the location near the WWTP since he didn’t want people trucking waste through Wakamow Valley and possibly dumping it there. Moreover, the province had just fixed Highway 2 south’s sloping issues and he didn’t want more heavy trucks on it.
Furthermore, there was uncertainty about whether Ottawa would keep a runway at 15 Wing permanently closed, which created uncertainty with the nearby no-fly zone, he said. Also, the city had tried and failed to acquire a second rural location and should drop its pursuit of that spot.
“We’re between a rock and a hard place … ,” Boyle said. “There are no real good options here, but we can’t go without a landfill here in Moose Jaw. Otherwise, we will have to truck the material to Regina and that will not be wonderful for ratepayers here.”
Boyle also asked administration whether it had discussed creating a regional landfill and whether it was financially feasible to develop a venue that converted waste into energy.
City manager Maryse Carmichael replied that after the RM denied the city’s application last year, administration met with the four surrounding RMs to inform them about the landfill project. During that conversation, a discussion occurred about creating a regionally operated landfill.
“Many steps are needed for that to come into play,” she added. “The issue now is, because we are so tight on time, having this as another option would probably create a longer path than what is recommended.”
Bevan Harlton, director of operations, said a new landfill was required before Moose Jaw could consider waste-to-energy technology. He noted that studies show that technology created 4,000 tonnes to 12,000 tonnes of ash byproduct, which needed to be stored somewhere.
Carmichael pointed out that such technology also needs to burn 100,000 to 150,000 tonnes annually to be cost-effective, while Moose Jaw produces around 40,000 tonnes annually. Also, waste-to-energy technology works well in cities with over 300,000 people.
Coun. Chris Warren said discussions about a new landfill began when he joined council in 2016, while the venue is now “on the cusp” of shutting down. Meanwhile, he said that while he appreciated the waste-to-energy technology idea, he wasn’t interested in pursuing it because there would be a “significant cost” to the community.
“I know (choosing a location is) not a decision that anyone wants to make, but the reality is, it’s something that takes us into the future 75 years,” he said. “So these discussions only come around once every century or so.”
Moose Jaw is three years away from running out of airspace at the landfill, and if the city has no venue by then, it will incur major expenses to truck waste elsewhere, he added. Also, the three suggested locations are viable and would meet the community’s needs.
Coun. Heather Eby said council should ask Ottawa to remove flight-path restrictions on land near the WWTP. While the city wouldn’t need to automatically build the new landfill there if the request were successful, that approval could open the agri-food industrial park for further development.
Meanwhile, with waste-to-energy technology, she knows some residents think the city wouldn’t need a new landfill if it used that process. However, she said the municipality would still need a place to dump the ashes since they wouldn’t just be incinerated.
“A lot of times, people tell us what we should do based on the information that they don’t have — and we have the information, so we’re able to make the decisions well,” Eby added.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Aug. 11.
