The final flame

Come the end of May the incinerator will no longer be in operation in Labrador West and the destination for domestic garbage will be the new landfill.

The temporary landfill will be ready but, as Wabush's town manager explained, the biggest thing right now is waiting for the a decision from the province.

"We are still waiting on the Province for the $2.9 million," Brian Hudson explained at last Tuesday's council meeting. "The Province has not formally (or not on paper) agreed to anything but definitely there is a fair degree of support for a number of the initiatives of financial support for what we've applied for. The drop-off area is the biggest hiccup, there are some other issues but I think we can work through these-but the biggest is the public drop off area. That was to the tune of $1.4 million."

Councillor Jim Farrell remarked that government thinks that is too costly and noted that that figure was even higher than St. John's' Robin Hood Bay gets.

Big price tag

"The biggest thing for our area is the cost here have escalated so much on that $1.4 million because it's a completely paved area compared to Robin Hood Bay or some of the other waste management sites," Farrell explained. "The pavement cost here-for say 500 metres or 750 metres of pavement-are more than double than other areas in the province."

The town manager agreed with Farrell and noted that it's not likely the cost of paving will decrease this year as there are no big paving projects going on other than the Trans Labrador Highway.

"We are not going to have Humber Valley [Paving Ltd.] open their plant outside of the highway," said Hudson. "They won't have time. So unless there are other major tenders that come in, companies are not going to open up and incur the cost to run the asphalt plant unless there's major work to be done."

On thing is for certain though, Hudson said, is the incinerator will be closed down by the end of May or even before.

He explained once May 15-marking forest fire season-the Town needed a permit to operate.

"One good thing right now is we don't have a lot of dried timber," he noted. "But that could change any day."

Two sites

Hudson explained the new landfill site is for domestic garbage and the current dumpsite (although the incinerator won't be in operation) will operate to a certain capacity for construction materials, for white metals, sludge, ash or asbestos. He is expecting some transitions problems.

"You can be sure people will come at the end of the day on a Saturday on the new landfill site with maybe a stove in the back of the truck or construction material that actually have to go to the incinerator site to be dropped off," he predicted. "They only can drop off regular garbage at the new site."

He said a number of avenues are being considered to resolve this type of thing including having bins at both locations that can be hauled back and forth.

"What we don't want is for a resident to show up at the incinerator site with a bag of garbage when they mainly went there to drop off their stove because that is where it should go," he continued. "And, have two or three bags of garbage there as well and fling it out on the side of the road."

Solutions and costs

While the bins are a pretty good solution, there is a cost involved that is over and above what was budgeted for both the incinerator site and the new landfill because it involved hiring a contractor to truck it from one site to the other.

"We could man a little hut and the entrance and the other employees would be down where you drop the garbage off to make sure that people are complying with the rules," Hudson added. "The person at the gate would let people know where to drop off their stove or constructional material and the other person is down in that area when they are dropping it off."

The town manager said he expects to have issues in the beginning but stressed that it's important to be vigilant in enforcement of the rules right from that start.

Mayor Barron agreed and said there will be zero tolerance for those who abuse of employees at the sites.

"I witnessed myself-last weekend when I brought garbage-this guy who got ticked off with the employee who was trying to tell him he has to go to a certain spot with his wood and stuff and dump it in that pile. He got pretty saucy and it's not acceptable. Residents are going to have to realize these guys are doing their jobs and there's no need for abuse that. And it has to be said, if you are going to be abusive, appropriate action will be taken against those people if they are identified."

Current pile needs to go

Another concern with the incinerator site, the town manager pointed out, was the vast amount of mixed material currently piled up there.

"There's a lot of wood and all it takes is a little bit of glass or anything to spark that up," said Hudson. "And that's on the basis it's not deliberate. We are looking at options of chipping it all up, bringing in a commercial chipper where we can chip anything up to 4 feet wide and using that sawdust and a cover material for the landfill. We definitely need to do something to get rid of it. If nothing else we will be seeking a permit to bury that on site."

The whole waste management project will cost an awful lot more than was first anticipated Councillor Farrell remarked.

"All that material Brian just talked about, there's enough of it up there to fill that landfill site," he said. "You can imagine what else is to come with all the activity in the area, and that's going to be for the next three to four years."

Farrell said he has another concern with the domestic garbage that is mixed in with the construction materials.

And even more concern

"When you start moving that construction material, all that domestic garbage is going to be exposed," he said. "And then you have the gulls and the crows coming in there and, remember, that is right on the flight path of aircraft coming in here and that is of big concern to me. I can tell you Transport Canada will be after somebody pretty soon if this happens."

Controlled burn?

Mayor Barron suggested that maybe a controlled burn on the site right now might help with some of those concerns.

Farrell agreed, saying the council should seriously look at that option before the weather gets too warm.

The town manager was less enthusiastic at that prospect though and drew attention to what could be involved.

"The problem is with a control burn we had one over there the winter and that burn lasted four days," Hudson reminded. "If we have a controlled burn now, it's going to be a multi-day burn. And I am not sure we can get the fire personnel to show up there for that amount of time."

All councillors agreed there needs to be some solutions found for the problems with decommissioning the site.

"What we don't want is for a resident to show up at the incinerator site with a bag of garbage when they mainly went there to drop off their stove because that is where it should go," he continued. "And, have two or three bags of garbage there as well and fling it out on the side of the road."

Solutions and costs

While the bins are a pretty good solution, there is a cost involved that is over and above what was budgeted for both the incinerator site and the new landfill because it involved hiring a contractor to truck it from one site to the other.

"We could man a little hut and the entrance and the other employees would be down where you drop the garbage off to make sure that people are complying with the rules," Hudson added. "The person at the gate would let people know where to drop off their stove or constructional material and the other person is down in that area when they are dropping it off."

The town manager said he expects to have issues in the beginning but stressed that it's important to be vigilant in enforcement of the rules right from that start.

Mayor Barron agreed and said there will be zero tolerance for those who abuse of employees at the sites.

"I witnessed myself-last weekend when I brought garbage-this guy who got ticked off with the employee who was trying to tell him he has to go to a certain spot with his wood and stuff and dump it in that pile. He got pretty saucy and it's not acceptable. Residents are going to have to realize these guys are doing their jobs and there's no need for abuse that. And it has to be said, if you are going to be abusive, appropriate action will be taken against those people if they are identified."

Current pile needs to go

Another concern with the incinerator site, the town manager pointed out, was the vast amount of mixed material currently piled up there.

"There's a lot of wood and all it takes is a little bit of glass or anything to spark that up," said Hudson. "And that's on the basis it's not deliberate. We are looking at options of chipping it all up, bringing in a commercial chipper where we can chip anything up to 4 feet wide and using that sawdust and a cover material for the landfill. We definitely need to do something to get rid of it. If nothing else we will be seeking a permit to bury that on site."

The whole waste management project will cost an awful lot more than was first anticipated Councillor Farrell remarked.

"All that material Brian just talked about, there's enough of it up there to fill that landfill site," he said. "You can imagine what else is to come with all the activity in the area, and that's going to be for the next three to four years."

Farrell said he has another concern with the domestic garbage that is mixed in with the construction materials.

And even more concern

"When you start moving that construction material, all that domestic garbage is going to be exposed," he said. "And then you have the gulls and the crows coming in there and, remember, that is right on the flight path of aircraft coming in here and that is of big concern to me. I can tell you Transport Canada will be after somebody pretty soon if this happens."

Controlled burn?

Mayor Barron suggested that maybe a controlled burn on the site right now might help with some of those concerns.

Farrell agreed, saying the council should seriously look at that option before the weather gets too warm.

The town manager was less enthusiastic at that prospect though and drew attention to what could be involved.

"The problem is with a control burn we had one over there the winter and that burn lasted four days," Hudson reminded. "If we have a controlled burn now, it's going to be a multi-day burn. And I am not sure we can get the fire personnel to show up there for that amount of time."

All councillors agreed there needs to be some solutions found for the problems with decommissioning the site.