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The city’s economic affairs committee approved a pipeline yesterday to carry water from the Navan landfill to the municipal sewage treatment facility in the Green’s Creek area.
Councillor Alex Cullen, recently named the most environmentally responsible member of city council, tried to force Waste Service Inc., which owns the dump, to build a treatment system at the landfill.
But his attempt was voted down by a majority of councillors on the committee, including Innes Councillor Rainer Bloess, in whose ward the dump sits.
Waste Services Inc. trucks the slop water to the treatment facility. The company has received approval for the pipeline from Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment.
Mr. Bloess said the pipeline is the best solution, because area residents are fed up with the large number of trucks rolling through the neighbourhood.
“There was exhaustive public consultation on this,” he said. “We get the trucks off the road. It’s the right solution for right now.”
Echoing concerns of environmentalists, Mr. Cullen, who was supported by Councillor Janet Stavinga, was concerned that the sewage treatment plant doesn’t really treat the chemicals contained in dump “leachate,” which is water pumped out of the landfill.
He said the city just dilutes the chemicals, then dumps them into the Ottawa River. He was also concerned the pipe might rupture and pollute groundwater.
The city’s utility director, Ken Brothers, took issue with both contentions. He said the sewage treatment process eliminates many of the chemicals, and that the pipeline, which will run down Navan Road and connect to the city sewer system, will be of the best quality.
He also said the company has provided a containment plan in case of a rupture and has total liability if it does.
Mr. Cullen’s secondary argument was that when a similar pipeline was proposed for the city-owned Trail Road dump in Nepean, it was voted down due to the same environmental and safety concerns.
“Why would we say it’s not appropriate for us to do it, but it’s appropriate for (Waste Services Inc.) to do it?” he said.
Deputy city manager Richard Hewitt provided the answer to that one.
He said the dump owners are a private company, and they have approval from the government body that deals with the environment to do it.
“The city does not have the authority to force the company to do something they are not contemplating doing,” he said.
The proposed pipeline will now go before city council next week for approval.