Huge semis pulling three open-top trailers full of Pender Harbour garbage could soon be lumbering through the streets of Sechelt if the regional district gets its way at a meeting in Madeira Park Saturday. After being rebuffed by public opposition numerous times in past, the regional district is once again hoping to close the Pender Harbour landfill and truck the area's 1,600-tonnes of garbage to Sechelt.
The SCRD's engineers admit the Pender site has "limited environmental impact" and could operate for another 29 years with $267,000 worth of improvements. This is far cheaper than closing it, which would cost $742,000 for conversion to a transfer station plus unfunded closure and monitoring costs.
After closure, residents would fill bins that would be trucked to Sechelt. SCRD engineers appear to have estimated haulage cost by asking only one trucker, who gave the round figure of $500 per trip.
Losing their landfill would be a setback for Area A residents. Many types of waste would have to be taken to Sechelt, a 120-km round trip from Egmont. Illegal dumping would increase. Business would be hard-hit. Jobs would be lost. Traffic would be impeded. And common sense tells us it would cost everyone a lot more than leaving the garbage where it originates.
The SCRD does not want to be bothered operating two landfills, but is it good planning to place all our eggs in one basket, waste-wise? Eventually, the Sechelt site will have to be expanded or replaced at a cost of untold millions to all Coast taxpayers. Why hasten that day by closing Pender's excellent landfill before its time?
Howard White
Pender Harbour
