NORRIS ARM -
The Central Newfoundland Waste Management Regional site is expected to be fully operational in January 2011.
Central Newfoundland Waste Management executive director Ed Evans and Central Waste Management Authority (CNWMA) board member and Town of Botwood representative Harold Edison gave Lewisporte District MHA Wade Verge and District of Exploits MHA Clayton Forsey a tour of the $82 million site on April 8.
The Central Waste Management covers an area from Terra Nova in the east, to Buchans in the west and Fogo Island in the north.
The modern waste management plan will include a second-generation engineered landfill, material recovery, compost facility, household hazardous waste depot, construction and demolition landfill, public drop-off area for the regional site and seven local waste management facilities in outlying areas. The location of the facilities will be Boyd's Cove, Fogo, Buchans, Point Leamington, Gander Bay, Indian Bay and Terra Nova.
"The Fogo Island transfer site will be ready for operation in June," said Mr. Evans. "Scales are currently on site for the regional site and the seven transfer sites in the region to be implemented."
All transfer sites will be equipped with a construction and demolitions site, household hazardous waste site, car-wreck and metals storage, white goods drop-off and weigh scales. From there the waste will be transported to the Central Regional Waste Management Site for proper disposal.
In an effort to continue education for area residents, the CNWMA was established in February 2008. Its mandate is to bring a modern environmentally friendly waste management system to the Central Newfoundland region.
"We have great regional representation," said Mr. Evans. "We try our very best to keep residents in the area informed."
Current construction
There are 30 acres cleared, an administration building and maintenance garage built and designs in place for the next phase of construction at the site near Norris Arm.
"The administration building will be the first thing that the general public will see upon entering the site," said Mr. Evans. "The building will be a forest green colour with white trim and it will fit very nicely into the area. The roads will be paved and the general area surrounding the building will be landscaped. It will be an environmentally friendly building and built with geothermal heating, solar panels and modern technologies."
The administration building will have a general reception area, office and storage space, a boardroom and an educational room.
"The education room will have a system in place for live feed from the landfill and compost facilities so members of a service organization, church groups or students can see the activities that happen on site," said Mr. Evans. "They will be shown live videos and then a bus can take them through the site.
"The compost facility and the material recovery facility are going to be built with quartered glass walls, so when we leave the live feed area we can give them a tour of the facility without entering the work area. So it will be a two-stage education process."
MHA Verge believes the educational room will not only give students or members of a local organization a look inside the regional site, but it will also help promote waste management and environmental awareness.
"A big advantage to people in our area in having this facility here is that communities farther away, like Eastport, that want to avail of the educational opportunities have a ways to travel, however, our schools in Lewisporte, Campbellton, Bishop's Falls, Gander can take the students on a day trip to see these facilities," he said. "It will be a great educational tool outside the classroom."
The next building the general public will see upon entering the site is the weigh scales.
"Regular clientele will have a code, so it will an automatic fee that will go straight to administration," said Mr. Evans. "With the general public we are still working on the details, however, calculations will be done on how much organic material and other waste come through. One of the provincial regulations require us to reduce what is going into our landfills by 50 per cent."
The public drop-off area is where residents will be able to dispose of their waste, whether it's green bags, blue bags or roofing shingles.
"The general public will actually bring it in and put it in the appropriate dumpster,' said Mr. Evans. "When the dumpster is full it will then go to the appropriate facility for processing."
Power lines, at a cost of $187,000, have been placed throughout the site and are ready for operation. A maintenance garage is also being built on site.
"We will have $9-million on site in equipment like compacters, trailers, loaders and fork lifts," said Mr. Evans. "The general public will not be permitted in this area of the site, unless directed."
A leachate control system of a multi-layer composite liner cell for the landfill will be installed in the months to come to enclose residual solid waste and collect leachate for treatment.
Landfill leachate is liquid that moves through drains from a landfill. The liquid may either exist already in the landfill or be created after rainwater mixes with chemical waste.
Modern landfills are designed to prevent leaching and require landfill leachate be collected and treated in a similar way as sewage and can be safely released into the environment after treatment.
"We have four ponds in total throughout the site with a controlled dyke system," said Mr. Evans. "There will be no issues running off this property either through the water or through the air. Even our compost facility will have biofilters and all the damaging air that is created in the decaying process will be put through a filter."
West waste
Mr. Evans said Central Newfoundland Waste Management are awaiting a decision from the provincial government on whether or not the site will also take waste from the west coast of the province.
"If the west coast decides to come on board, then obviously we have to build a little bigger composting facility and a system that will be able to handle the leachate control," he said. "The population using this site will jump as well from 73,000 to 200,000. It won't only be the west coast, but the Northern Peninsula, Baie Verte peninsula and the Coast of Bays."
While awaiting that decision, Mr. Evans said the detail design is being finalized on the material recovery facility.
"That facility, even on a small scale, would have no trouble handling the 200,000 population," he said. "The site that we are building here could probably handle a population of 500,000."
MHA Forsey likes the prospect of employment for the region, during the construction phases and once the site is fully operational.
"This site is not only a modern environmentally friendly waste management site for the region, but it will also add to the economy of the region," he said.
Mr. Evans estimates 70 part-time and full-time jobs will be created at the regional site.
"If the west coast (is included that) may increase to 100-125 positions," he said. "In addition to that, over the next month $7-8 million will be awarded in contracts."
Mr. Evans said consultants are currently putting together a plan for an Industrial Park spanning eight to nine acres at the site.
"This is so we can deal with any industry that deals with waste management," he said. "We have three or four businesses right now that would like to come in and set-up. It will be a revenue generator as well that will help keep our costs down."
Operating in 2011
The regional site is scheduled to open in 2011, with full operation in spring of 2013.
"We are optimistic that we will begin operations in January 2011," said Mr. Evans. "Late 2013 is the date that everything should be built and in full operation."
The in-vessel composting facility is expected to be operating for the fall of 2011. With composting becoming an efficient and effective way to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfills a compost facility will be implemented at the Regional Waste Management site. Once the compost system in place, organics (yard waste, food waste, food processing waste, agricultural wastes) will be composted within a closed building.
A material recovery facility is estimated to be in full operation by the fall of 2012.
Once the facility is in operation, all residential dry waste will be processed. The dry waste must be in a blue transparent bag and residents will be asked to shake, wipe or rinse dry waste clean before it is recycled. Dry items would include aluminum cans, juice cans, cardboard and paper products, fabrics and cloths and all types of plastic and glass.
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