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Campbell Hill landfill set for soft opening in December

Site has seen several major delays over past three years
19218982_web1_191105-ACC-M-Campbell-Hill-LF-extension-graphic
The double composite liner at the Campbell Hill landfill is exceeds what is required for new landfills in the province. Photo: Belkorp

A soft opening of the Campbell Hill landfill—formerly known as the Cache Creek landfill extension—is planned for December 2019.

The project has been in development for more than 10 years, and it was originally hoped that it would be open in late summer/fall of 2017, just months after the Cache Creek landfill reached capacity and closed in December 2016. However, fire, flooding, and mudslides in the area over the past two years caused several delays, as did an appeal that opposed the extension.

The project was also delayed by Hurricane Harvey in 2017, which affected the Houston, Texas firm that had been contracted to provide the liner for the new landfill.

READ MORE: Belkorp executive expects Cache Creek landfill extension will be open by January 2018

At the regular Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD) board meeting on Oct. 17 Russell Black, president of Belkorp Environmental Services—the parent company of Wastech, which operates the site—said that the soft opening will see the new landfill taking one product from several customers. “That will make sure all the checks and balances are in place, and we’ll see how it goes,” he said.

“It’s dependent on the weather. We hope to be accepting TNRD waste in late January or February 2020, which will result in significant savings for the TNRD.”

Since January 2017, municipal waste from local communities has been taken to a temporary transfer station operated by the TNRD near the original landfill. The waste is then trucked to one of the TNRD’s other landfills (at Heffley Creek and Lower Nicola). In 2016, the estimated cost to the TNRD of trucking the waste to one of those sites was $500,000 per year.

READ MORE: Work on Cache Creek landfill extension liner to start soon

Black noted that the new landfill is unique in that Belkorp and the Village of Cache Creek jointly hold the operational certificate, and that they have participation agreements from the Bonaparte and Ashcroft Bands.

“It’s a collaboration of the community, and we’re pretty proud of that.”

The Campbell Hill landfill has a double composite liner system composed of 14 layers, which Black said demonstrated the company’s commitment to the environment.

READ MORE: Cache Creek landfill extension set for September completion

“The current requirement [for new landfills] in B.C. is a single composite liner, and the Campbell Hill landfill—which is unique—will double that.

“It’s been peer-reviewed by third parties. In comparative terms, this landfill has been designed to the same standard as U.S. standards for landfills that accept hazardous waste. But we won’t be taking hazardous material.”

Black added that the Campbell Hill landfill represents about four per cent of the 10 million tonne capacity of the entire site.



editorial@accjournal.ca

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