The Town of The Blue Mountains will continue on with a system to pre-treat leachate from its landfill before it is sent for processing at the Craigleith sewage plant.
At its committee of the whole meeting on Nov. 19, council unanimously voted in favour of a three-year contract extension with Environmental Solutions Inc. to continue to pre-treat leachate from the town’s landfill to eliminate dangerous hydrogen sulfide from the material before it is sent for treatment at the sewage plant in Craigleith.
Leachate refers to liquid that comes out of the town's landfill. It can be rainwater that goes through the layers of solid waste and picks up components of the waste it flows through before being collected. In The Blue Mountains, the landfill bays are lined to contain and collect the leachate, which then gets treated by Environmental Solutions before being sent to the town's wastewater treatment plant.
The contract will cost $109,000 per year, which is up from $84,000. Staff recommended the extension of the contract because the pre-treatment system has been successful at removing the harmful hydrogen sulfide from the leachate and has eliminated odour complaints/concerns from the public about the Craigleith sewage plant.
“This process has been pretty effective in solving a pretty serious industrial problem,” said Jeffery Fletcher, the town’s manager of sustainability and solid waste. “Residents are not experiencing the odours they were at one time.”
Fletcher explained to council that as part of the phase two expansion of the landfill, the town will be installing a permanent pre-treatment facility at the landfill that will be town-owned. He said the contract extension was meant to “bridge the gap” until the landfill expansion, scheduled to start in 2026, is complete.
Council approved the recommendation from staff, with one slight change. Staff had recommended a five-year extension, but council reduced the extension to three years.
Multiple councillors asked why the contract was being renewed after five years and not being put out to tender or a request for proposal process.
Fletcher explained that the current treatment system is working, the initial contract included a renewal clause and that staff were concerned a tender or request for proposals process would not produce a new system as effective as what is currently in place.
Coun. Gail Ardiel also raised concerns about the cost increase of the contract, which represented a 30 per cent hike.
“These are huge amounts that are going to be a hit on the budget,” she said.
Fletcher explained that over the five years of the initial contract, the costs of labour and equipment have escalated for the contactor, which resulted in the increased price for the extension.
