The Morning Star is re-running an article that appeared in Friday’s paper because of wrong financial information. We apologize to the city for any error this may have caused.
The City of Vernon will get a financial break on dumping sewer biosolids, but not as much as it hoped for.
The North Okanagan Regional District has agreed to charge the city $30 a tonne to send biosolids to the Greater Vernon landfill, while the city had requested $12.60 a tonne.
“We’re still paying a premium but it’s still assistance,” said Wayne Lippert, Vernon director.
At $30 a tonne, the city will pay $95,000 to $100,000 while it would have been $40,000 at $12.60 a tonne.
Generally, the regular rate for municipal solid waste is $63, which would have translated into $190,000 to $200,000 for the city.
The city had made the case for $12.60 a tonne because it says 80 per cent of the waste material is water.
“It will leach out and evaporate,” said Lippert.
The material is usually taken to the Ogogrow fertilizer plant in the Commonage but the city is trying to reduce production there to get a handle on an odour problem.
If no odour occurs under reduced production for six months, the cities of Vernon and Kelowna – which own the plant – would then move ahead with expansion to handle increased loads of biosolids.
Through the agreement with NORD, the city would send biosolids to the landfill for six months with an automatic extension of another six months.
NORD staff recommended $30 a tonne because most of the material is liquid and to cover operating and administration costs.
But not all board members support the $30 a tonne.
“Normally we wouldn’t take these biosolids into the landfill and now we are being asked for a subsidy? Why would we subsidize this?” said Doug Dirk, Coldstream director.
Dirk also questions if the water could create environmental problems.
Cliff Kanester, Area B alternate director, isn’t opposed to helping the city, but questions the figures involved.
“Who judges that it’s 80 per cent water and 20 per cent solids? I’m not sure that’s right,” he said.
However, Patrick Nicol, a Vernon director, urged NORD to support the city.
“One of the reasons the regional board exists is for regional co-operation. It’s all one community in many ways,” he said, adding that the residents impacted by the odour live in the Commonage, which is part of Area B.
“The citizens demanding the greatest action are not in the city. We are trying to be responsible.”
The city is also in discussions with a farmer who may want to take some of the biosolids for compost.
“If that comes to fruition, there would be less going into the landfill,” said Lippert.
------------------------------------------------------------------------The City of Vernon will get a financial break on dumping sewer biosolids, but not as much as it hoped for.
The North Okanagan Regional District has agreed to charge the city $30 a tonne to send biosolids to the Greater Vernon landfill, while the city had requested $12.60 a tonne.
“We’re still paying a premium but it’s still assistance,” said Wayne Lippert, Vernon director.
At $30 a tonne, the city will pay $95,000 to $100,000 while it would have been $40,000 at $12.60 a tonne.
Generally, the regular rate for municipal solid waste is $63, which would have translated into $190,000 to $200,000 for the city.
The city had made the case for $12.60 a tonne because it says 80 per cent of the waste material is water.
“It will leach out and evaporate,” said Lippert.
The material is usually taken to the Ogogrow fertilizer plant in the Commonage but the city is trying to reduce production there to get a handle on an odour problem.
If no odour occurs under reduced production for six months, the cities of Vernon and Kelowna – which own the plant – would then move ahead with expansion to handle increased loads of biosolids.
Through the agreement with NORD, the city would send biosolids to the landfill for six months with an automatic extension of another six months.
NORD staff recommended $30 a tonne because most of the material is liquid and to cover operating and administration costs.
But not all board members support the $30 a tonne.
“Normally we wouldn’t take these biosolids into the landfill and now we are being asked for a subsidy? Why would we subsidize this?” said Doug Dirk, Coldstream director.
Dirk also questions if the water could create environmental problems.
Cliff Kanester, Area B alternate director, isn’t opposed to helping the city, but questions the figures involved.
“Who judges that it’s 80 per cent water and 20 per cent solids? I’m not sure that’s right,” he said.
However, Patrick Nicol, a Vernon director, urged NORD to support the city.
“One of the reasons the regional board exists is for regional co-operation. It’s all one community in many ways,” he said, adding that the residents impacted by the odour live in the Commonage, which is part of Area B.
“The citizens demanding the greatest action are not in the city. We are trying to be responsible.”
The city is also in discussions with a farmer who may want to take some of the biosolids for compost.
“If that comes to fruition, there would be less going into the landfill,” said Lippert.
There is more to the bio-solid dumping story than meets the eye. Let’s look at some background.
Prior to the construction of the new sewage treatment plant the City used to dispose its “bio-solids” on spray irrigation lands in the Commonage. They also accepted “septage” from septic tanks at the treatment plant.
Following the completion of the sewage treatment plant they no longer accepted septage and NORD had to construct a septage treatment plant for about $2 million. There was no good will gesture allowing septage discarded into the landfill at reduced cost (not even at full cost). In fact, disposing compostables of any kind (i.e. bio-solids) into the landfill is discouraged even at regular rates.
The main reason for this policy is to extend the life of the landfill as long as possible. Closing a full landfill is very expensive. As well, developing a new one is not only costly but has major political consequences as nobody wants a landfill site in their neighbourhood. Disposing bio-solids reduces the life of the landfill.
The City, in cooperation with Kelowna, constructed a bio-solid composting facility in the vicinity of the landfill site but it appears to be creating a stink. Many residents of the area registered their complaints. Officials believe the facility is too small to handle the load. The excess will be dumped into the landfill for a trial period of six months renewable for an additional six months. What happens if this trial fails? No solution was offered for that possibility.
My major complaint is that it is always governments who break policies and laws that they would not tolerate for the rest of us to do. Be it the law fixing election dates, or the one prohibiting deficit budgeting or dumping bio-solids into the landfill site, they are all law and policy breaking instances promulgated by various levels of government. They set a bad example for the rest of the people.
Even if it was unavoidable to dump bio-solids into the landfill, at least it should have been at the cost the rest of us has to pay. None of us could use the flimsy excuse that the garbage we dump is 80% water. The landfill is a regional facility: if one partner gets a reduced rate the rest of the region subsidizes that partner.
Prior to the construction of the new sewage treatment plant the City used to dispose its “bio-solids” on spray irrigation lands in the Commonage. They also accepted “septage” from septic tanks at the treatment plant.
Following the completion of the sewage treatment plant they no longer accepted septage and NORD had to construct a septage treatment plant for about $2 million. There was no good will gesture allowing septage discarded into the landfill at reduced cost (not even at full cost). In fact, disposing compostables of any kind (i.e. bio-solids) into the landfill is discouraged even at regular rates.
The main reason for this policy is to extend the life of the landfill as long as possible. Closing a full landfill is very expensive. As well, developing a new one is not only costly but has major political consequences as nobody wants a landfill site in their neighbourhood. Disposing bio-solids reduces the life of the landfill.
The City, in cooperation with Kelowna, constructed a bio-solid composting facility in the vicinity of the landfill site but it appears to be creating a stink. Many residents of the area registered their complaints. Officials believe the facility is too small to handle the load. The excess will be dumped into the landfill for a trial period of six months renewable for an additional six months. What happens if this trial fails? No solution was offered for that possibility.
My major complaint is that it is always governments who break policies and laws that they would not tolerate for the rest of us to do. Be it the law fixing election dates, or the one prohibiting deficit budgeting or dumping bio-solids into the landfill site, they are all law and policy breaking instances promulgated by various levels of government. They set a bad example for the rest of the people.
Even if it was unavoidable to dump bio-solids into the landfill, at least it should have been at the cost the rest of us has to pay. None of us could use the flimsy excuse that the garbage we dump is 80% water. The landfill is a regional facility: if one partner gets a reduced rate the rest of the region subsidizes that partner.
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