The CRD wastewater treatment plant located at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt produces 10 tonnes of biosolids every day. These biosolids are the residual waste products which are piped to the Hartland Landfill where they are treated into a pellet.
The BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change regulates to disposal for these treated biosolids. The Ministry requires that their disposal meets the requirements of the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation and are beneficially used.
The Ministry has ordered the CRD to prepare a long term plan for managing biosolids by June 2024. On January 10,the CRD Board approved a public consultation plan required by the Ministry as part of the plan approval process.
https://getinvolved.crd.bc.ca/
The plan considers policies which are in conflict with current Board policy. In 2011 the CRD Board banned land application of biosolids anywhere in the CRD Region due to public concerns about the potential for contamination. In 2019, the Board approved land application of biosolids only in the Hartland Landfill as an emergency measure if biosolids could not be used a a fuel for a cement plant in Richmond.
The Board reiterated its ban on land application outside Hartland in June 2023. However, the Ministry of Environment directed CRD to include land disposal as an option in its long term plan.
Biosolids contain long term pollutants such as micro- plastics and ‘forever chemicals’ which have been analyzed by the federal Ministry of Environment
As a result, the CRD Board approved in principle an independent analysis of the current contaminants in biosolids by the University of Victoria. This analysis has not yet been initiated as the Board decided to wait for an internal review by the BC Ministry of Environment due this winter.
In addition, the CRD Board approved an independent test of water samples in and around the Hartland Landfill with the support of the local First Nations. This work is just getting underway.
Neither of these two independent analyses was mentioned in the consultation report, which strongly supports land application despite the public concern over long term contamination.
Local public interest groups led by the Peninsular Biosolids Coalition and the Mt.Work Coalition have voiced their strong opposition to the consultation document as outlined in the following media articles
Poop happens: The debate about how we manage biowaste is seriouscapitaldaily.ca
The Board has listened to this public anger.
It has called for am emergency meeting scheduled for 1:00 pm on Wednesday January 31 to review the consultation document and hear from concerned citizens. The agenda for the meeting will be released on Friday January 26 and the public have to notify the Board by 4:30 pm on Monday January 29 if they wish to present directly to the Board.
Public input is critical. The CRD Board has consistently supported public concerns and overruled its staff and the BC Ministry of Environment who have strongly supported land application of biosolids across the CRD Region.
The public interest groups will be requesting the the Board withdraw its consultation report and re- issue it to continue its ban on land disposal until both independent analyses of potential contamination from chemicals of concern in the biosolids and the waters around the landfill are completed and reviewed by the public as past of a revamped consultation process.
More details of the issues at stake and the way to address the Board will be forthcoming on this community blog on the weekend of January 29.
Can access the ‘what we heard report’?
In 2019 we were told that the problem with the pellets would be rectified shortly. We are in 2024 and the facility is still not functioning. Who is responsible for the initial plan and the failure to render the plant operational in 5 years. The CRD should be held accountable for this failure of planning and execution.