An application to landfill wood waste products at a property north of Lund has been withdrawn by the proponent.
According to Jeff Levine, owner of the property in the area north of Powell River between Sarah Point and Bliss Landing, through the consultation and notification period, feedback from the local community has been received about the application submitted to the ministry of environment to obtain an approval for a temporary wood disposal facility on private property.
“All of the guidelines and regulations were followed, including consultation with first nations and notifying the local neighbours,” said Levine. “The intended disposal location was previously clear cut and has been historically used as a forest industry site. The surrounding crown land was clear cut three years ago. The historic use of the property and the surrounding area was a major consideration in choosing the subject site.”
Levine said it is unfortunate that false information was intentionally distributed stating that the wood material was toxic waste.
“This is simply not true,” said Levine. “This was an application for disposal of non-hazardous wood material, in accordance with provincial guidelines and by qualified environmental professionals.
“The constructive feedback and ideas of the local community are appreciated. Although all provincial requirements for this type of facility have been met, it is the concerns of the local community that has prompted the decision to withdraw the application with the ministry of environment, effective immediately.”
At the December 8 qathet Regional District (qRD) planning committee meeting, directors reviewed correspondence from Levine, who indicated that his company, 1265209 BC Ltd., intended to submit an application to authorize discharge of industrial wood waste residue from sawmills and former sawmill properties that have industrial wood waste residue on the land. The land where the discharge was scheduled to occur is located at 14445 Sarah Point Road in qRD.
According to an environmental protection notice signed by Levine, the maximum rate of industrial wood waste residue discharged from the facility would be 375,000 cubic metres over a 15-month period. The operating period for this facility was to be 8 am to 5 pm, five days a week. The refuse Levine wanted to discharge included sawdust, wood chips, hog fuel, end cuts of wood less than one metre in length, dredgings of wood waste, sand, gravel, rocks, inert waste and inert cover material.
According to the notice, all material would be non-hazardous and covered through intermediate cover material until the landfill was completed, and it would be covered with a low-permeability cover on top and soils and vegetation would be replanted.
Levine said his property is 155 acres in size and he had been proposing to place the landfill on a four-acre section of the property. Levine said he is also planning to build a residence on the property, so he wouldn’t introduce any harmful byproducts onto the property on which he planned to live. He said he had hired an environmental company to assess the wood waste and the material was clean.
“We would never put any type of material down that was toxic or hazardous or do anything to the environment,” said Levine. “Everything I did was guided by the BC ministry of the environment. They identified who I had to notify and who I had to be in consultation with.”
