Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK
October 02, 2017 - 5:15 PM
KELOWNA - Changes at the Glenmore Landfill will extend the life of Kelowna’s primary waste facility by making it both steeper and almost one third taller.
Utility services manager Kevin Van Vliet in a report to council will ask that existing limits on the angle of side slopes of the landfill be changed from 5:1 to 3:1, a ratio already used at landfills at other B.C. cities.
That change would allow the city to pile on an extra 20 metres of trash, taking it to 90 metres in the northern part of the landfill and extend facility life by 25 years, extending its expected lifespan from 2065 to 2090.
The change will also allow the landfill to better blend in with Tutt Mountain and Bredin Hill, the report says, while failure to make the move could cost future Kelowna taxpayers at least $500 million in extra garbage shipping costs between 2065 and 2090.
As it is, staff are asking council to spend $51 million on seven other projects over the next decade just to allow for continued operation, including several new projects not identified in the landfill’s 2017 capital plan, Van Vliet notes.
With the exception of increasing volume, extending the life of the landfill would not significantly add to the odour, dust and noise that it currently generates, although it would extend existing conditions by 25 years.
About 155,000 tonnes of garbage and demolition material go through the Glenmore Landfill each year, a number expected to rise to 300,0000 tonnes annually in about 35 to 40 years, peaking at 600,000 tonnes near the end of its working life.
Support for the project, based mostly on 23 exit surveys from an open house held last year, showed 60 per cent of respondents favoured extending the life of the landfill, the report claims.
Council had some concerns about nuisance odours but the consequences of not taking action proved too great and the plan was adopted unanimously.
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News from © iNFOnews, 2017