Some residents may consider the current landfill smelly and an eyesore, but city hall says the proposed new solid waste management venue should eliminate both of those issues in the future.
City manager Maryse Carmichael and operations director Bevan Harlton discussed the project during a recent interview with the Moose Jaw Express after rural residents raised concerns about the proposed site.
This is the sixth article in this series about the new landfill location.
Eliminating smells
A tree-lined 100-metre buffer will surround the venue, which should reduce smells and people seeing the waste, said Harlton. The entire site is 159 hectares (390 acres) in size, with roughly 50 hectares (130 acres) — or one-third — dedicated to the buffer zone. The landfill itself will be 128 hectares (320 acres) in size.
“We have to cover the active garbage with dirt every night … . And that’s not a suggestion from the Ministry (of Environment); that’s a requirement,” he continued, noting the operating permit also prohibits the city from letting garbage blow beyond the buffer zone.
Meanwhile, the new site will not incinerate or burn garbage, while the city will not leave debris open to the weather where it can “really brew and become gross,” Harlton added.
Prime agriculture land
Harlton addressed the issue of the city choosing to build the new solid waste management venue on prime agricultural land. He explained that city hall assessed the agricultural capability of area land and classified all potential sites as class 2, class 3, or both.
These classes indicate the general suitability of soils for growing most crops, with class 1 being the most capable and class 7 being the least capable.
While the soil around Moose Jaw is either class 2 or 3, city administration avoided areas where there were adjacent creeks or water channels since that would be inappropriate, Harlton said.
“From that, there isn’t a piece of land around Moose Jaw — and that’s a good thing — that isn’t prime farmland … . So the reality that we’re taking this land for public works facilities and for part of it being solid waste management — that’s not lost on us,” he continued.
“Taking away good farmland is a part of growth and expansion. But trying to select land that was less impactful agriculture-wise wasn’t possible … .”
Distance from city
The current landfill is 150 metres east of Moose Jaw, while the new one will be 1.6 kilometres north. When asked why the new venue couldn’t have been built five or nine kilometres away, Harlton replied that the cost per kilometre for the city to run its six collection trucks would have been significantly high.
“Between five and nine kilometres, our own operators started to raise red flags and said, ‘Listen, if we’re looking at a future public works facility, how is that going to serve us nine kilometres out?’” he continued. “So we were very fortunate to be able to secure the site we did.”
Carmichael noted that residents will also use the landfill, so they may not be as inclined to use it if it’s further.
Increased traffic
Building the solid waste management venue near Highway 2 is likely to increase traffic on that road, considering it’s already used by farm machinery, school buses, area residents, Buffalo Pound Lake users and potash mine workers.
Carmichael said city hall will work with the Ministry of Highways over the next few months to address that issue.
Harlton said the ministry wants the municipality to conduct a traffic impact assessment report, similar to what must be done for major industrial or residential developments. Also, upgrades would be required to that highway, which means the project developer — the City of Moose Jaw — would be responsible for adding a left-hand turning lane.
Carmichael added that people should visit the City of Moose Jaw’s website and view all the information about the new solid waste management venue since the city updates that page regularly.
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