Unsuitable Landfill Options Considered for Halfmoon Bay
BACKGROUND
On January 20th, 2021, the SCRD Infrastructure Services Committee held a virtual meeting at which a Consultant from Tetra Tech outlined various options (Annex B) available to the SCRD regarding the future of Solid Waste on the Sunshine Coast. The SCRD operates a landfill site at Dusty Road in Sechelt, scheduled for closure in 2025 or 2026 because there is no more room to expand the current facility.
The SCRD focused on three sites located on rural lands in the Halfmoon Bay area as potential locations for a new 10 hectare (25 acre site). There is no apparent reason why Halfmoon Bay was singled out other than the SCRD Directors felt that its central location and topography were optimum for a potential site.
Several options were considered but, at the conclusion of the meeting, the SCRD Board unanimously approved that all three sites in Area B (Halfmoon Bay area) would be investigated to see if any of them were suitable. The Board was also going to consider a couple of options for a transfer facility as it was quite possible that the existing landfill might have to close before they could transition to a new landfill site – this would likely mean shipping solid waste off coast by barge, using the existing landfill site as a temporary transfer station. Should they end up having to ship solid waste off coast permanently then a long-term transfer facility in the Langdale area (for example) might have to be considered. Interestingly, the Tetra Tech consultant had not factored in any initial capital costs for road improvements and paving to any potential landfill sites nor for any land acquisition costs that would be required for the purchase of land to accommodate a more permanent transfer station.
POTENTIAL LANDFILL SITES IN THE HALFMOON BAY AREA
The initial Tetra Tech study was a “desktop”, using maps and other data to find out if any sites met the basic provincial criteria for a new landfill without anyone visiting and investigating these sites as well as looking into all the legal ownership and jurisdictional concerns.
In the spring of 2021, a group from the Halfmoon Bay Environmental Society decided to be proactive and physically check out the proposed sites for ourselves and educate ourselves on exactly what the basic provincial criteria are for new landfill sites in BC.
Three key criteria that the Province requires before considering the siting of a new landfill in BC are as follows:
- that the site cannot be within 100 m of a creek;
- that the site cannot be located in an area where the water table is within 1.5 m of the surface;
- that the site cannot be located above a geological fault line.
The first area that we visited and that the SCRD and Tetra Tech had earmarked was near where the gravel road to the Big Firs crosses under the Cheekeye-Dunsmuir power transmission line, just east of Trout Lake and is generally unlogged. Half of the ground is too steep to accommodate a landfill and the remaining half is relatively flat with a number of places with standing water, indicating a relatively high water table.
The second site east of Secret Cove is on previously logged, gently sloping terrain north and east of the Cheekeye-Dunsmuir power transmission line. Between the scattered granitic outcrops, there is some standing water (indicating a high water table) along with a small but active flowing stream. Much of the area however is relatively flat and geologically on trend with the limestone/marble (karst) area of the Homesite Caves to the southeast. We felt that if this location was ultimately chosen, the onus should be on the SCRD to demonstrate, either by trenching to bedrock or diamond drilling, that the proposed landfill site is not underlain by karst. The porous and potentially cavernous limestone and marble terrain could prove to be a very good conduit for leachate from a future landfill site, ultimately draining into Homesite Creek and downstream into Secret Cove.
The last site we visited is on the north side of the Telus Tower hill, southwest of Wormy/Phare Lake. This area has been almost entirely logged in the past 10 to 15 years. There is no standing or flowing water at the potential site. Geologically, there is karst in the Wormy/Phare Lake area but not necessarily at this site. Also, there is a fault line that has been mapped on the south side of the Telus Tower hill (running from the Seawatch area) and while not an active fault, there is the potential for a rubble zone and possible leakage, should the fault be found to continue northwards. Again, we believe that the onus should be on the SCRD to demonstrate, either by trenching to bedrock or by diamond drilling that the proposed landfill site is not underlain by a continuation of this fault.
Tetra Tech also presented an “Area of Interest” map showing, among other things, that the main drainage from Trout Lake was to the west and into Milne Creek. This is definitely not the case, as the culvert that drains Trout Lake is located at the east end of the Lake and feeds Kenyon Creek, which ultimately drains into Sergeant Bay. We are left to wonder what other errors might be displayed on their map?
We shared our observations and assessment with the manager of Infrastructure Services at the SCRD who replied that he had forwarded them to their consultant for consideration. He also admitted that the SCRD was “…still working on completing our assessment of the areas from a variety of angles and will keep you informed about when we expect to have information to share publicly”. That was in May 2021 and since then we have had no more information or communication from the manager.
SUMMER 2021
Fast forward to July 8th, 2021 to another virtual SCRD Infrastructure Services Committee meeting at which the same Tetra Tech consultant who presented in January, outlined the results of their continued study on the potential landfill sites in the Halfmoon Bay area. We were not certain, but it seemed that the SCRD Board was now being asked to consider potential landfill site areas that were considerably larger than those proposed back at the January meeting. To our surprise, the sites that were being showcased were not quite the same as had been outlined back in January and there was little explanation for the change. Also, each of the sites up for discussion had been studied by a drone flight survey which had subsequently mapped out what a future landfill build-up might look like. In other words, this was the first time that it was confirmed that a new proposed landfill would be built up from the ground rather than infilling a natural or a man-made depression.
The potential landfill area north and west of the Homesite Caves (LOCATION #1) had been dropped from this July presentation, noting that the site was considered to be close to a possible area of karst. Despite this, at least one SCRD Board member asked if Tetra Tech hadn’t been a little premature in eliminating this site from their study.
The proposed site on the north side of the Telus Tower hill was virtually at the same location as was proposed in the January 20th Meeting (LOCATION #2).
A new site had been added to their presentation and located to the north side of the Telus Tower hill, southwest of Pudd Lake, again on gently sloping, mostly clearcut ground (LOCATION #4).
The last site location just east of Trout Lake had been changed to the clearcut area west of the original site presented in January (LOCATION #3).
As mentioned above, these three potential sites all came with a drone survey, mostly over terrain that the Sunshine Coast Community Forest (SCCF) currently holds tenure. It was not clear as to whether Tetra Tech or the SCRD had even consulted with the SCCF. Drone surveys can only “see” where an area has been clear cut or partially cut. Obviously no forested areas were “seen” by the consulting group. LiDAR data was apparently not considered either. Lidar (light detection and ranging) is an optical remote-sensing technique that uses laser light to densely sample the surface of the earth, producing highly accurate measurements even through vegetation and soils. It turns out that the SCCF owns extensive LiDAR survey data over their tenure but neither Tetra Tech nor the SCRD had contacted the SCCF to enquire about the possibility of sharing or acquiring these data measurements or maps.
At the conclusion of this meeting, SCRD staff suggested that they put further decision making on pause until additional expertise is brought on. They didn’t elaborate on what type of expertise the SCRD had in mind but this tactical change was supposed to happen by the end of 2021 and the results of a review by the ‘expertise’ would perhaps be available by March or April of 2022. As of October 22nd, 2021 the Tetra Tech studies have cost the SCRD a total of $101,577.00.
HBES SITE VISITS
A group from HBES has visited these new or relocated sites. The potential site to the north of the Telus Tower hill, southwest of Pudd Lake, (LOCATION #4) sits in a natural valley, and despite the extreme heat experienced in the summer of 2021, water in the creek was still running. This water is a tributary of Halfmoon Creek which feeds into Halfmoon Bay itself, near the General Store. Despite there being an obvious flowing creek in the valley and virtually in the centre of the proposed landfill site, Tetra Tech still went ahead with a costly drone survey of this location.
The site location just east of Trout Lake (LOCATION #3) covers the easterly trail entrance to the Loco-Motive trail and is now much closer to Trout Lake than was originally proposed – in fact, the site is within 500 m of Trout Lake itself! Also, the site sits on top of a small valley that often, but not always, has an active creek running through the proposed site that feeds into Kenyon Creek, downstream from Trout Lake, ultimately ending up in Sergeant Bay. At the July 8th meeting some concern was raised by at least one SCRD Board member that solid waste scatter from this particular landfill could be a problem, considering its proximity to Trout Lake. Scatter, it was explained, could be from wind or more likely birds such as Bald Eagles. The Tetra Tech consultant reassured the meeting that the area would be fenced and that the garbage could be compacted. Because birds can fly over fencing and eagles have beaks, compacted garbage would offer only a negligible challenge to scavengers. See the forest adjacent to the current landfill and you will understand exactly what scatter means.
Because the SCRD has not made digital maps of the proposed landfill sites in Area B publically available, all maps accompanying this article have been obtained as screen shots from the SCRD Special Infrastructure Committee Meeting, July 8th, 2021 and annotated by this author.
GOING FORWARD
The HBES and all who live in the Halfmoon Bay area need to make sure that whatever the SCRD propose for our community is properly researched and communicated, and in a timely fashion. By the time they choose to engage us publicly (and that certainly has not happened to date) their decision may already be in place. Some may say that because it’s our garbage we have to deal with it on the coast. That may be, but it has to be done correctly and not on sites that have creeks already running through them or are close to areas popular with locals and visitors alike such as Trout Lake. Also, increased traffic on Highway 101 does not appear to figure into their decision making.
Up to 15% of the global methane (a greenhouse gas that is at least 20 times more potent than CO2) in our atmosphere is generated by landfills. Certainly, lessening the organic component of a landfill will lower the methane produced but it will never eliminate it. Plastics, even biodegradable plastics, all contribute to methane production in landfills. The Sechelt landfill does not gather the methane that it currently produces and nor will a new landfill site in our area – another omission from the budget that Tetra Tech provided to the SCRD. If that were included in the costs perhaps a waste-to-energy plant might seem feasible. Also, if an off-coast transfer option is implemented, at least the solid waste would be sent to a facility in a community that wants this industry and collects and uses the methane produced.
Stay tuned – the HBES is doing its best to keep abreast of what the SCRD are planning for our community.
Peter Hews
Resources
Special Infrastructure Services Committee Agenda – Jan 20, 2021 (Annex B)
Tetra Tech – SCRD Future Waste Disposal Options Study – Jan 15, 2021
Watch on Youtube – Special Infrastructure Services Committee – Jan 20, 2021
Watch on Youtube – Special Infrastructure Services Committee – July 8, 2021