Wellington landfill upward expansion proposed
The landfill at the East Prince Waste Management Facility in Wellington may soon be allowed to expand upward.
Island Waste Management Corporation has applied to the Department of Environment to increase the total height from 14 metres to 24 metres.
IWMC enlisted the help of private consultants who said they could go even higher, but the corporation decided to limit the increase to reduce the visual impact on the surrounding area.
The nine-acre site has about 12 to 15 years left at the current height restriction, says CEO Gary Moore.
Although there is no real need to extend the restriction, the plan would further extend the site's life, says Moore.
"I mean it's the only landfill that we have in the province that takes in municipal waste across mostly the Western part of P.E..I, and if we can go higher, it will prolong the life of the existing facility we have there," Moore said.
It's better to go up then out, he says.
"When you go out it costs money to build infrastructure underneath the landfill and we already have the existing infrastructure underneath the landfill to collect any contaminants that may leach through the waste and we collect that and treat that," said Moore.
"So if we can so higher there's no reason from an operational or technical reason why we can't do that and it just makes sense from a financial standpoint to do so."
The Department of Environment is inviting public input on the project for the next 10 days.
One group concerned with the expansion is the Wellington Volunteer Fire Department.
Firefighter Desmond Arsenault says the department is worried fires that may occur will spread faster when exposed to the wind at the higher elevation and be more difficult to reach.
"At 14 metres, and it's not quite there yet, but it's still a steep elevation to go up to access the top of the landfill site, and to increase that another 10 metres, it would make a fairly steep grade to go up to the top, and there's only one access," said Arsenault.
Moore says some of the departments' concerns are valid and will be evaluated.
"Well, basically, we could look to have better access roads for them."
Landfill expansion plans can be found on the province's website.
