New landfill planned for Carp Road

A new landfill that will accept up to 400,000 tonnes of waste per year for 10 years is being proposed to replace the existing Carp Roaddump.

Waste Management Inc. announced Tuesday that it is seeking approval to build the new facility on the same 142-hectare property in Ottawa's western rural outskirts where italready operates a 35-hectare landfill.

The company said it plans to close, cap and monitor the current landfill once the new facility begins operation.

The current landfill onceaccepted 400,000 tonnes per year but as it reachedcapacity,the amount of waste was reduced to25,000 tonnes per year. Excesswasteis redirectedto facilities in the state of New York.

Theproposed replacement landfill would be 36 hectares in size and reach a height of 25 metres.

The new proposal includes recycling and composting facilities on-siteto help divertwaste away from the landfill itself.

It also includes technology to capture gases released by the landfill and burn them to create electricity to power greenhousesthe company expects to build.

Waste Management is callingthe entire operationtheWest Carleton Environmental Centre. Itis expected to employ up to75 people, including the 12 already working at the site.

Waste Management is also open to allowing some of the land on the site to be used for recreational facilities such as sports fields and hiking trails or wildlife habitat.

Earlierproposal withdrawn

The company had previously made a proposal to triple the size of the Carp Road landfill. However it temporarily withdrew the application in 2007 after fierce public opposition. The company said it would try to reduce the expansion, improve recycling facilities and incorporate energy-from-waste technology.

Public consultations are to be held throughout thedevelopment process for the new proposal. The first will generate comments on the terms of reference for the proposal.

"We developed this new approach after listening to the feedback of community members, and we want to continue this dialogue," said Ross Wallace, Waste Managements manager for the new facility.

Local residents lobbied hard against the previous plan. They complainedthe existinglandfill already produces a lot of foul odours, despite the company's installation of equipment that is supposed to reduce the smell. The provincially regulated facility takes industrial, commercial and institutional waste, as well as some residential garbage from outside Ottawa.

Shad Qadri, city councillor for Stittsville, said that by noon Tuesday he had already received 10 emails from constituents opposed to the new proposal. The northern boundary for his west-end wardis just south of the Carp Road landfill.

"They're not willing to support it and neither am I," added Qadri. "In this day and age with all the technologies we have available, it makes no sense to do landfilling in any form in any community."