Sludge Watch ==> Vancouver Island - 9 truckloads of septic sludge

[Maureen Reilly]

Home > Vancouver Island > Nanaimo Daily News

Stinky problem troubles neighbours
They fear stored sludge may contaminate wells Derek Spalding, The Daily News
Published: Thursday, August 02, 2007 Article tools


Lynda Robertson is worried that a neighbour's smelly business venture could 
contaminate water in her South Wellington neighbourhood.

Several months ago, Robertson noticed trucks driving along Kimball Avenue. 
Because of the smelly contents, she and several other concerned neighbours 
complained to government officials.

They later learned that the owner of a neighbouring 57-acre South Wellington 
property had brought in nine truckloads of dewatered septic sludge from a 
Ladysmith company and was storing it in a trench on his property.

Residents in the small community grew concerned that the sludge might seep 
into their wells and nearby Beck Lake.

Their concerns led them to their Regional District of Nanaimo director, Joe 
Burnett.

After an investigation by the RDN and the provincial Ministry of 
Environment, owner Sean Wilton removed the material.

Wilton said the sludge, already treated by a septic tank, would not have 
contaminated land or water. He said he laid plastic over an old coal bed (at 
least 20 feet thick), and then topped that with two feet of crushed coal. 
There was "no way anything was going" into the water, he said, explaining 
that he bought the treated material so he could eventually turn his forested 
property into usable farmland.

"If you test the stuff, it tests very close to topsoil and within a month it 
would test exactly as topsoil," he said in an interview. "It would have 
absolutely no environmental effect . . . but as soon as any issues were 
raised we moved it."

He has yet to figure out the total cost of the project, and its removal, but 
said it will surely be in the "tens of thousands."

"It's a giant waste of money, whatever it is."

Wilton was providing Ladysmith company Pureleau with the space to eliminate 
their supply of sludge, according to Conrad Berube, environment protection 
officer for the province. He interviewed Wilton and Pureleau president 
Lawrence Lambert in March, when ministry emergency response officers brought 
the matter to his attention. Lambert had been having difficulties getting 
rid of waste after the Capital Regional District in Victoria stopped 
accepting sludge from out of region, according to Berube.

"They started out doing something that they thought was a viable and 
ultimately environmentally beneficial project, but ran into hurdles in 
meeting the Environmental Management Act," Berube said.

The RDN received their first complaint about the waste at the end of June, 
according to Tom Armet, manager of building and bylaw services. By the time 
the RDN was involved, the Ministry of Environment had already told Wilton to 
truck the material to a proper waste management site. Residents should not 
worry about contamination, according to Armet.

"There's (Beck) Lake close by, but apparently the material is not close 
enough to a water supply, according to the information we have."

As for Robertson and her neighbours, they're happy the material is gone, but 
some question why the two government groups were not "open" with residents 
from the beginning.

Doug Catley first heard about resident concerns at a community meeting 
nearly a month ago. Rumours circled that the waste could be from pigs or 
"some animal," according to Catley. But that wasn't and he asked Burnett to 
get more information.

"That's when it came back to us that yes, indeed it was human waste, and the 
Ministry of Environment was involved and ordering the removal," he said. 
"Why didn't someone tell us from the very beginning? I just find that 
disgusting."

DSpalding at nanaimodailynews.com

250-729-4231
http://www.canada.com/vancouverisland/nanaimo/story.html?id=2042f4f6-bd9d-4744-ac53-9cc15155663b