Accessibility and Access Keys [0]
The company behind the proposed expansion of an Ottawa-area dump is pitching the new facility as a green “environmental centre,” but local residents are concerned the approach would be only for appearances.
Waste Management Inc. met with residents at its hauling office in the first of five public meetings designed to ease concerns over its plans to seek approval from the province to build the new landfill at the Carp Road site capable of accepting up to 400,000 tonnes of waste per year for 10 years.
The plan has met with strong resistance from local residents, some city councillors and Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien, who has said he is against any new landfills.
But the company also announced as part of the initiative it would include recycling and composting facilities on-site to help divert waste from the landfill itself.
It also said it would use technology to capture methane released by the landfill and burn it to create electricity to power greenhouses the company expects to build.
Ross Wallace, Waste Management’s manager for the new facility, said the new facility would be renamed the “West Carleton Environmental Centre” to reflect all the changes proposed.
“There’s obviously an element that do not want a waste facility in their backyards or near their properties and they have general concerns about that and it’s understandable,” said Wallace. “But if they come and talk to us I’m sure we can alleviate some of those concerns.”
Landfill an unpopular option
Gib Patterson came to Monday’s meeting to learn more and said whoever handles waste needs to do a better job of keeping it out of a landfill.
“[We need] more management of the waste, better management, so we can turn back the waste into usable energy for our communities,” said Patterson.
Shad Qadri, the city councillor for Stittsville, was skeptical of the proposed changes and said if the city was in charge of the site instead of the province it would do a better job of managing the garbage.
“The city has done a great job where we control our own residential waste to a point where we are saying we don’t need an expansion of a landfill,” said Qadri.
“Why can we not look at that in this so-called environment centre? They are doing great things with diversion and everything else and I’m happy for that, but don’t wrap that around a landfill,” he said.
Waste Management said it could take three years to get all the approvals it needs from the province to expand the Carp Road dump.
The next public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at the Carp Agricultural Hall from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.