A proponent for the Green Waste Company was on hand at a qathet Regional District (qRD) board meeting to answer public concerns about a proposed compost facility in the Duck Lake area.
At the April 26 meeting, correspondence from Green Waste Company was tendered, and facility manager Dan Buckland was in attendance to respond to queries from board members regarding the organics processing facility.
Electoral Area A alternate director Lyn Adamson said she had looked at the website of Green Mountain Technologies of Seattle, which has been contracted to design the Green Waste Company facility, and act as professional consultants. Adamson said most of the photographs on the website featured composting being done outside.
Buckland said that is not what Green Waste Company is doing. He said it would be done inside.
Adamson said she was trying to imagine how big this building is going to be.
“It’s big enough that you can have multiple piles at a time and a bulldozer moving around in there,” said Adamson.
Buckland said the facility would be 120 feet long and 60 feet wide.
“Within that we have sufficient space,” said Buckland. “The volumes are not large. This is a very small facility. In fact, this is the smallest that Green Mountain Technologies has ever designed. There’s more than sufficient space in there.”
Adamson said Green Waste Company would be picking up organics from the resource-recovery centre currently under construction in City of Powell River. She asked about all the yard waste that is going through Augusta Recycling.
Buckland said at this time, his company is not sure if Augusta is going to continue.
“Our goal is to make sure the resource-recovery centre is people’s main focus,” said Buckland. “It’s the most efficient way to go because people can make single trips. Augusta hasn’t approached us. We’re leaving it until we figure out what their plan is.”
City director George Doubt said it was good to see Green Waste’s response to questions asked at the regional district planning committee on April 5.
“You’ve done a thorough job of answering a lot of those,” said Doubt. “I appreciate seeing your response and I didn’t expect to see a response that quickly. The information is quite thorough.”
Strict requirements
In the Green Waste submission to the regional board, the company indicated it has been studying, working on and practicing composting for five years. The facility, the company stated, will be designed, constructed and operated in accordance with Organic Matter Recycling Regulations BC (OMRR). The company stated that OMRR stipulates strict requirements for both construction of a composting facility, and processing and testing of organic matter.
The proposed facility will be composting combined food and yard waste, and creating a class A compost product, the company stated.
According to the company, all working surfaces will be concrete, which is a requirement under OMRR. The perimeter walls will be 7.5-foot-high concrete, forming the foundation for a fabric-covered building, which is industry standard, the company stated.
Receiving, processing, screening and storage of materials will all be conducted within the buildings, and any contaminants removed during the screening process will be stored in a commercial garbage container, with regular collection, according to the company.
The company further stated that turning of the piles will be done within the fully enclosed composting building, with all process air directed to the ventilation systems and biofilters, providing maximum odour protection for both the facility and surrounding community. No noxious odours are anticipated, the company added.
