SUNDRE – Members of the Municipal Area Partnership (MAP) were rather “lukewarm” on a proposal for a waste processing facility that would purportedly reduce greenhouse gases compared with a traditional landfill, town council recently heard.
Presenting a verbal report outlining key messages from the Oct. 18 meeting of MAP’s membership, Sundre mayor Richard Warnock, who is also the 2023 MAP chair, told his colleagues during the regular Oct. 23 council meeting that representatives from Eco-Growth had done a presentation about available technology that reduces waste and therefor the need for landfills.
The process, which involves using equipment such as dehydrators, boilers and shredders that end up creating residual by-products that can be applicable for use in agriculture, also produces a smaller carbon footprint than traditional landfills, said Warnock.
Following that presentation, the municipal partners agreed that a letter should be sent to Eco-Growth stating that while MAP would not directly support the proposed project, the company could instead contact the Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission if it wants to proceed.
“We are not the experts, the waste commission is the experts,” he said.
Coun. Owen Petersen inquired whether there had been “an appetite” for the proposed waste management system expressed among the municipal partners, even if they felt such a decision should ultimately come down to the waste commission.
“There was discussion around the table in regard to how it would benefit each municipality,” said Warnock, adding Mountain View County’s representatives wanted to know where the facility would be placed and what its benefits would be.
“The rest of the group was sort of passive,” he said. “One of the things (MAP members) struggled with, is (Eco-Growth) couldn’t define the cost.”
Specific details such as estimated costs and financial benefits, plus data demonstrating how much the process actually offsets greenhouse gases, were scant and not particularly persuasive.
“The answer was that they felt they could give the MAP members the same return as to what we’re paying today,” said Warnock.
“So, there was no benefit financially; the benefit is greenhouse gas control and (the reduced need for) landfills,” he told his colleagues. “Having said that though, I would like to mention that there was discussion that Eco-Growth does not stop landfills totally.”
The mayor said he had previously been under the impression the proposed technology would outright eliminate the need for new landfills.
“But there are products that you can’t stop from going to the landfill,” he said.
“To answer your question, it was mediocre,” the mayor said about the MAP membership’s appetite for the proposed project.
Offering additional context, Chris Albert, director of corporate services, said there also aren’t any negative aspects to the technology.
“It was more just a lukewarm response to the idea,” said Albert. “Nobody has all the answers yet in terms of costs, in terms of how much (waste) can actually be diverted (away from landfills). So, I think that’s where the MAP group was a little put off by it.”
Coun. Paul Isaac brought up the facilities operating in Edmonton, where garbage is processed and turned into what is called refuse derived fuel.
“We need to move forwards. And I don’t know how long landfills are going to be able to exist,” said Isaac.
“As a municipality, we need to investigate what other alternatives are out there,” he said. “And we need to know it with costs.”
Reducing emissions is good, he said, but more information is needed in terms of estimated costs as well as the amount of waste tonnage needed for the facility to be economically feasible.
“If we can’t eliminate our landfills, we might be able to prolong our landfills,” he said. “But we need to know those answers before we can even entertain it.”
Housing needs assessment
On an unrelated item, the mayor also reported that some of the municipal partners are moving ahead with conducting their own housing assessments, and that Mountain View Seniors’ Housing should by way of letter be informed they would have to conduct their own seniors’ housing assessment as MAP’s membership will not participate in any combined study.
At a previous meeting, MVSH had asked the MAP membership if the group might be interested in pooling resources to do a regional assessment on housing in general as well as seniors specifically, he said.
However, he said a consulting firm called Urban Systems that was approached by MAP about the possibility of doing the study, informed the municipal partners that this would not be a financially beneficial approach because each community is different with a variety in demographics.
“It would actually increase the cost substantially to do a combined housing study in the County of Mountain View than if we did an individual study,” he said.
So, although members of MAP remain interested in doing housing needs assessments, they were averse to the significantly increased cost, he said.
The studies themselves are valuable assets not only in guiding future decisions but also to help secure funding. MVSH had years ago carried out such a study that ultimately paved the way for the Sundre Seniors Supportive Living Centre, he said.
“The next municipality that’s on the top of their list for a new facility, is Carstairs,” he said.
However, the “window of opportunity is not there like it used to be for financial help from the government,” he added.
“So, a new study would have to be be done in order to open any doors for funding.”
