Metro backs garbage trains to U.S.
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In the end, it wasn't even close.
Metro Vancouver will ask the province for permission to export up to 600,000 tonnes per year of local garbage to the U.S., in an admission that no new B.C. landfill or incinerators can be be in place before Metro's nearly full Cache Creek landfill closes in late 2010.
The Metro board voted almost unanimously to proceed with the plan despite vocal opposition, particularly in White Rock and South Surrey, where trash trains would roll along the waterfront en route to U.S. landfills in Washington or Oregon.
Only Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart was opposed.
"I think there's a real risk the United States will legislatively wake up to the smell of our garbage and will end up putting barriers in place we don't anticipate now," he said.
But Metro waste management committee chair Marvin Hunt said every alternative has been exhausted.
"We have run out of options," he said.
The garbage crunch now facing the region stems from the regional district's failed efforts spanning 10 years to first expand the Cache Creek dump then build a replacement near Ashcroft.
In both cases local First Nations opposition scuttled the plan when it became clear the province wouldn't override aboriginal objections.
In early 2007, Metro gave up on Interior landfills and now aims to build controversial waste-to-energy plants in the Lower Mainland.
While those plans are explored, the trash export to the U.S. would serve as a stop-gap, intended to last no more than five years.
While various proponents claim they could have a made-in-B.C. solution in place by 2010, Hunt said Metro none appear viable.
They include a proposed expansion of the Cache Creek landfill led by the firm that operates the dump and a proposal to turn part of the Highland Valley Copper mine near Logan Lake into a regional landfill.
But Hunt said continued aboriginal opposition and threats of court challenges mean neither is likely to be in place by the end of 2010.
One remote possibility is a firm on Vancouver Island that proposes to incinerate garbage at a former pulp mill to generate electricity, but haggling over the term and rates of such an arrangement make it look unlikely.
There is one remaining alternative to exporting waste to the U.S.
 Environment minister Barry Penner could still nix Metro's plan to send garbage to the U.S. and instead order it sent to the Vancouver landfill in Delta.
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The Vancouver Landfill in Delta could take roughly twice as much garbage as it does now over the next five years to handle what now goes to Cache Creek.
But the City of Vancouver, which owns the landfill, has adamantly opposed that idea since it was first suggested more than a year ago.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson made no move to change course, voting with other directors to ship waste to the U.S.
"We don't have a better solution at the table right now," he said.
Metro chief administrative officer Johnny Carline said it's still possible the province might dictate use of the Delta landfill instead of U.S. exports.
The export plan now needs approval from Victoria, after which Metro would seek competitive bids.
Two firms – Waste Management and Rabanco – are in the running to take Metro trash south.
Both companies would send waste in sealed rail cars along the BNSF railway, although Rabanco says it would split its shipments, sending the majority by truck across the border at Abbotsford before being reloaded into rail cars.
Metro officials say they need to finalize the contract by late this year.
If exports are shot down and there's no other place to send the garbage, Hunt said Metro could be forced to build a new landfill somewhere within this region.
Metro estimates it will need two years of consultations and deliberations before deciding on what technology new waste-to-energy plants should use, followed by two to three years to build the plants.
One scenario under consideration would see several small garbage-fired power stations built around the region.
The idea has come under fire from air quality advocates in the Fraser Valley.
Some directors predict opposition to burners will only intensify as that talk becomes more serious.
"I think there's going to be a lot of push back," said North Vancouver City Mayor Darrell Mussatto.
There's also concern exports to the U.S. could drag on longer than five years if incineration proves deeply unpopular.
Directors who favour much more intensive efforts to recycle also fear the ready escape valve provided by U.S. dumps may take pressure off the region to meet its targets.
Metro is aiming to boost recycling rates from 55 per cent now to a target of 70 per cent.
Officials expect recycling that much will require aggressive actions, including higher tipping fees and penalties on those who dump what they shouldn't.
The bill to build new incinerators is expected to run into the billions.
© Copyright 2007 Surrey North Delta Leader