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September 8, 2006

City upgrading landfill to curb runoff

“I think in the future incineration is the only answer”

JACKIE WALLACE

With Iqaluit’s landfill bursting at the seams, city engineer Geoff Baker isn’t just concerned with making enough room for all of the garbage that goes into it, but also managing what dribbles out of it.

“Ninety-nine per cent of the waste in Iqaluit is going into this landfill,” said Baker. “Runoff from the landfill is nasty stuff.”

More garbage means more contaminants and when the city was negotiating its water licence with the Nunavut Water Board in the spring, board officials raised concerns about the levels and management of the contaminants in runoff from the landfill.

Although the city had allocated $500,000 to upgrade the landfill in 2007, the water board said that for the city to retain their water license, a number of upgrades had to be completed at the landfill by Oct. 31 of this year.

“Contamination from the landfill makes its way to Koojesse Inlet, and we’re not sure what’s in there,” said Baker, although he said they have a better sense after doing some testing this summer. “We want to keep the clean water out and the contaminated water contained.”

The upgrades will begin this week and will cost the city $475,000.

The construction will improve ditching and drainage around the landfill and extend the fence by 50-70 metres to create more space for the sludge treatment facility. Two collection ponds will be dug on the site to hold all of the contaminants that will then be pumped to a retention pond built off of the site.

Baker says the upgrade will extend the life of the landfill until 2011, which coincides with the expiration of the city’s five-year water license. He said that there is an agreement between the city and the Nunavut Water Board that in order to reapply for their water license the city must have a long-term solid waste management plan.

“There are already a half dozen abandoned waste sites in Iqaluit that need to be maintained,” said Baker. “I think in the future, incineration is the only answer.”

He said that incineration has been discussed in the past but was considered too expensive. When numbers were tossed around in 2002 it was estimated that the capital cost to set up an incinerator would be $14 million, with a cost of $750,000 a year to operate.

At the time the idea was dismissed, but Baker said he thinks the idea will have to be seriously revisited to deal with the growing mountain of garbage in Iqaluit.