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South Okanagan Photos

RDOS staff report lukewarm on remaining compost sites

Oliver Landfill

A small scale turned windrow compost site could potentially be incorporated into the long term build out of the Oliver Landfill. The facility could take organics from Area A, Area C, Oliver and Osoyoos. A good example for this model would be the small scale compost site currently operational at the Osoyoos Landfill. The site uses a relatively inexpensive membrane and dry well to handle all leachate concerns.

A Regional Compost site is much larger. Even removing the wastewater treatment sludge as a feed stock, a Regional food waste compost site would be very large for the small Oliver Landfill property. A large space would be needed to compost and cure materials as well as store additional yard waste chips for blending with commercial food waste. Any impermeable base would most likely need to be concrete based due to wear and tear; raising the costs to move. A structure would be needed to contain odour.

It is likely that a Regional Compost site would impact the longevity of the Oliver Landfill by restricting access to the western section of the landfill and impeding future operations. At this time, there does not appear to be an opportunity to lease or purchase adjacent land. The Oliver Landfill is also the furthest site considered from the population centroid of the RDOS. Waste will have to be hauled a further distance than other sites. A transfer station for collection trucks in Penticton and Summerland would likely be required to better handle this greater distance of travel and would increase the overall costs to operate the facility.

Further investigation into the use of Oliver Landfill as a regional site would include the following activities:

· Any feasibility study for a Compost site would need to be dove tailed with a Design, Operations and Closure Plan for the Oliver landfill to gauge potential effects.

· A Solid Waste Management Planning exercise including public consultation would be required for a large scale Regional compost site.

· A detailed transportation study would need to be completed showing the location and costs of any potential transfer stations. The transfer station expense was only estimated broadly in existing documents. If a transfer station cannot be located, then it would be an issue for residential collection trucks (split trucks are not efficient in hauling long distances) accessing the site.

Senkulmen Business Park

A private compost firm, called Golden Mile Organics, proposed to develop a full Regional compost site at the Senkulmen Business Park near Gallagher Lake. The sites are fully serviced and available for lease through the Osoyoos Indian Band Development Corporation. A conservative odour model conducted by our consultant showed that this site would impact the highest number of homes, and Highway 97, in the event of moderate odour conditions as compared to all other sites considered.

The Business Park is also the second furthest site considered from the population centroid of the RDOS. The feasibility study also determined the need to set up a transfer station for residential collection trucks in Penticton and Summerland to better handle this greater distance of travel. As with the Oliver Landfill, this greatly increases the costs to operate the facility.

Campbell Mountain Landfill

Various feasibility studies were conducted for this site. The Design, Operations and Closure Plan was also recently updated showing the intended fill plan.

Challenges with this site include the following items:

· With the application of a biocover, there will be limited space for a compost site.

· The development of a Regional facility would entail a massive blasting and earth moving exercise due to the steep topography and spurs of bedrock along Spiller Rd and the start of Greyback Mountain Rd.

· The area is within the ALR.

Although the Campbell Mountain Landfill is centrally located there does not seem to be adequaspace at the site for a Regional Compost facility. A smaller wastewater treatment sludge compost site may be feasible above Spiller Rd.

Note – the RDOS board has rejected two sites – one in Marron Valley and one at Summerland.