Biosolids

Safeguard Your Health: What the Public Needs to Know

Would you knowingly eat food, drink water or breathe air that contains toxic chemicals and microplastics linked to cancer that are contained in sewage sludge from Victoria, BC’s wastewater treatment plant?

Right now, forever chemicals, which true to their name last nearly forever in our environment, such as PFAS, and microplastics as well as PAHs, lead, mercury, dioxins, and pharmaceuticals are making their way into our air, water and soil through the bio-accumulation of tons of these toxic chemicals that remain in the sludge after the waste water from our homes, industry, businesses and health care facilities is processed.

Since 2022, the CRD plan was to use these dried biosolids as an alternative to fossil fuels in a cement plant, which is in keeping with a ban on the land application of biosolids the CRD Board passed in 2011. Instead, every day, 10 tons of toxic sludge, also known as “biosolids,” has been spread or buried at Victoria’s Hartland Landfill, where wind and rain erosion disperses these forever chemicals into the neighbouring farms, fields, forests and watersheds.

There is a strong triple bottom line business case for thermal conversion which the CRD needs to employ as it:

creates a non-toxic biochar which is the desired end product as a result of thermally converting toxic biosolids into inert biochar – a new green industry;
it’s a carbon free fuel source, not incineration, no pollution, low carbon footprint;
a plant could be up and running within two years if treated as the emergency this is;
thermal conversion can stop landfill expansion and convert ALL waste, not just biosolids, into fossil fuel free energy and save our waters, soil, trees, fish, our health and the beauty of the region and why so many people chose to live and visit here.

Solutions Exist! Learn More Here:

Frequently Asked Questions About Biosolids
Biosolid Free BC on Facebook
Butchart Gardens
Mount Work Coalition
Raincoast Conservation Foundation
Sierra Club

Take action by letting the CRD know you oppose the land application of biosolids by emailing: crdboard@crd.bc.ca

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The Peninsula Biosolids Coalition and Biosolids Free BC, with whom Creatively United for the Planet Society has been actively collaborating, congratulates the CRD Board for making a historic decision to thermally convert biosolids into biochar employing the latest…

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In April 2025, the Province of BC approved in principle the CRD’s preferred option for thermal conversion of biosolids into a biochar and non-fossil fuel gas. Until the CRD received this approval, it was reluctant to proceed with adjudicating the Request for Proposals…