New Solid Waste Management Site Open Houses

Rob

Another timely topic to talk about on Take Five with Carnie and Carmichael, and that is the new dump. That's what we call it the dump, AKA the landfill. We've been told for years now here in Moose Jaw that our current landfill, located just east of the city was reaching its capacity, and we needed a new spot, and that time has come. We have a new spot, just north of the city, and that has come with some opposition and I'm going to guess maybe assume that you've talked with some of those about their concerns. Some of those people.

Maryse

Absolutely, absolutely. We have this stakeholder engagement portion of this project that's ongoing right now. I have to say the old landfill that the city has been there for 100 years. So this is a project for the city. It's an exciting one because we get to put, aside an old landfill that's been there for a long time, and if you can just imagine the technical requirements 100 years ago to establish a landfill, you know the requirements were not what they are today for a new location. So yes, we've been talking to stakeholders, so there are two sides to this project. There's one, of course, to decommission the current landfill and then there's constructing the new solid waste management facility. And I'm calling it a solid waste management because we will manage the garbage, we will manage the recyclables. It's not just a place where we're going to put garbage, we're actually going to, we're going to treat it and manage it.

 

Rob

The concerns have been about the location correct?

Maryse

That's correct. That's correct. The location being to the north, some people are saying there's an issue with the prevailing winds. There's an issue with the distance and of course, we understand coming in this beautiful farming community that we're taking away good farmland. We have some restrictions. We are and of course, I, for one, know the impact of 15 wing having trained there, and this is Moose Jaw is special in the sense that we have a military airport close to us, but that also brings restrictions. So, there are a number of areas where we cannot have the future facility, so we were left with a lot of different areas north of the city and that's where we picked the one location.

Rob

 

The prevailing winds, for the most part, are out of the West here in Moose Jaw, generally speaking, not from the north, although we do get a northerly breeze once in a while. But that's just one of the things you had to you had to consider when choosing a new site. Tell us, tell us about the other things we had to consider.

Maryse

That's correct. So there's of course the regulatory concerns, there's all the technical requirements. When we have a project of this size, of course, we have to liaise with the Ministry of Environment, who is one of the stakeholders that we are working with for this new location, the Ministry of Transportation as well and the Water Security agencies. So we have all their technical requirements. We have all the legal and environmental requirements as well to work with, and also just the fact that there's a lot of areas around town. As an example, close to a little Creek or there are different areas where we have restrictions. So the team went through all those requirements. And then decided on the location. So we looked 2 kilometers, 5 kilometers, 8 kilometers from the city.

 

Rob

Paint the picture for us. I’ve seen the map, but I'm not a map guy. How are we going to get to the new landfill and how far out of town is it?

Maryse

So the best way to get to this new location will be to take Highway 2 North on the way to Saskatoon, and I think if you've traveled there lately and you remember there's the weigh scale on the way up about two kilometers north of the city, it's going to be just West of that location. So that's how we'll do it, so. One important point is that it's actually going to be much safer for the city employees and for the residents going to this new location. Currently, you have to cross Highway 1 to be able to get to the current landfill. It's not going to be the case anymore, we're going to be on Highway 2. Does it mean that we're going to have to change Highway 2 so that there's perhaps a left-turning lane? Absolutely. And we'll do a traffic impact assessment. We'll talk to the Ministry of Transportation to ensure that that new intersection is safe. But that's how residents and our employees will get to the location.

 

Rob

Is work underway on that site right now?

Maryse

No, it is not. So at this time in the project, we are doing the stakeholder engagement and then the next phase will be to get to the 95% project plans. So with the entire team. So right now we have the basics of what this new solid waste management facility will be. But then we'll get once we have our discretionary use from the RM because it is in the RM’s area. So, once we have that, we are done all the consultation, then it's going to be up to the engineers, the architects, to really get to work and finish the last plans for this new facility.

Rob

What's the timeline?

Maryse

So we're looking in the next three to five years to do the full completion. We have a few more years at the old location, at the old landfill, so that we can we can have the new project on the way.

 

Rob

OK, very good. And more consultation on the way as well.

Maryse

Absolutely. So on the 22nd of February, we'll have two sessions. It's basically going to be an open house for people to come. We will have. So we're working on a lot of visuals because I want people to understand that this is going to be very different than the landfill we have now. It's not a mountain of garbage, it's actually only going to be according to legislation only going to be 10 meters high. So it's going to look very different. There'll be a tree line buffer zone of about 100 meters deep, so it will look different. So, at this open house we will have some visuals of what this new solid waste management facility will look like. So, two sessions in the afternoon on the 22nd. So, 1:30 till 3:30 at the Moose Jaw Event Center and from 6:00 to 8:00 PM as well.

Rob

And that's a Thursday, February 22nd. Correct?

Maryse

That's correct.

Rob

OK. Anything else we need to add about the new landfill?

Maryse

I'm excited about it because it's going to be a page of the city's history that will be turned with the old landfill and then a new facility that will. Abide by all the requirements that we need both on the technical and legislative side.

Rob

OK. And again, the open houses, two sessions coming up on Thursday, February 22nd.