Canmore is proposing to relocate its waste transfer site and material recycling facility away from a residential neighbourhood over the next two years.
But what the site will look like and when it will happen remains to be decided by council when it considers a waste management strategy being proposed by administration in the near future.
Manager of public works Andreas Comeau said he expects to have the strategy on the agenda soon as administration wants to deal with this issue in the first quarter of 2012.
“Really there is no movement on (the project) until they approve that strategy,” Comeau said.
The approved capital budget includes $3.5 million over the next five years and $1.5 million in 2012 to design and relocate the facilities to the Wastewater Treatment Plant area.
It also proposes the transfer station be considered regional and access $1.8 million funds from the province through the regional waste commission.
While the project description sets out the waste infrastructure will be located at the Town’s wastewater treatment plant, Comeau said until the strategy is approved those details are yet to be determined.
“Because it depends on the strategy,” he said, adding with access to the treatment site secured through an agreement with the holder of the railway crossing, access to that location as a possibility.
However, the move does not mean the site in Elk Run directly adjacent to residential subdivisions will be completely decommissioned. During budget meetings, Interim Chief Administrative Officer Lisa de Soto indicated the location may remain as a recycling depot and drop-off.
At the same time as the strategy is before council, Comeau said he expects to present the results of a $95,000 waste feasibility study conducted over the past year that deals with municipal solid waste and biosolids.
The study’s goal was to investigate options and alternatives for locally managing both municipal solid waste and biosolids. It reviewed energy from waste technology options, conducted a business case review of the most suitable for managing both waste streams and a regulatory review.
Currently, Canmore’s residential waste is collected and transferred to the BFI landfill site in southeast Calgary. The cost in 2011 is $87 per tonne, but by 2015 administration expects that cost to nearly double to $165 per tonne.
The Town has also had a difficult time finding a permanent solution for its biosolids ever since the agricultural program at Bowden Correctional Facility was cancelled by the federal government.
Currently, it ships sewage generated at the Wastewater Treatment Plant to a composting facility near Penhold at a cost per tonne of $150 for hauling and disposal. With close to 3,000 tonnes a year processed, that adds up to an annual cost of $450,000 to ship biosolids outside the community.
