It seems 11th hour attempts to change the future of the Pender Harbour landfill have come to an end, and the facility will be converted to a transfer station.
At it's April 8 meeting, the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) board voted for the transfer station option, which staff and consulting reports say will be cheaper and result in less greenhouse gas emissions, but held off on work at the request of Area A director Eric Graham.
Graham made another attempt last Thursday to defer any plans for a transfer station by arguing there is actually more space left in the landfill than previously thought.
"It appears there is ample room at the Pender Harbour landfill for considerable more landfilling capacity at the present footprint at very little cost," he said. "This board has been telling the Pender Harbour, Egmont and Sunshine Coast residents that the landfill is full when it appears not to be."
Graham cited a 2005 official community plan document for Area A that states the landfill should have space until 2013 and a previous solid waste master plan that stated the life of the landfill could be extended by making some changes within the current permit area to allow for more filling space. He added that with the addition of a resource recovery facility, those deadlines could be pushed back even further.
Dion Whyte, manager of sustainability services for the SCRD, said the documents Graham referred to are dated, that the Ministry of Environment (MOE) requires annual topographical surveys of the landfill to determine how full it is, and that even small changes to filling practices in the permitting area would trigger an involved application process to MOE.
Whyte went on to assure Graham that there are no intentions to close the landfill until every last bit of possible space has been used.
"The bottom line is: we have every intent of maximizing capacity that exists within that permitted area. If there's capacity there to fill without having to go through a major process as dictated by the legislation through the ministry, that's certainly the way we would proceed," Whyte said.
Other SCRD directors agreed with Whyte's comment saying the landfill will remain open while planning for a transfer station continues.
Graham had been lobbying for the board to reconsider its decision that Pender Harbour residents must pay all the costs of a referendum, applications and capital and operating costs for an expanded landfill, but found little support from the board. He said putting the costs on Area A alone would doom a referendum to failure.
"In order to have the chance of Area A going ahead with a referendum, Area A would have to pay the full cost of the referendum and full cost of an expanded landfill. It would be a waste of money as a referendum would not pass in Area A," he said.
