Biosolids dumped at Hartland Landfill spark controversy

A local environmental group is sounding the alarm over what it calls "toxic biosolids" that are being spread at the Hartland Landfill in Central Saanich, B.C.

The landfill is home to the Capital Regional District's (CRD) Residuals Treatment Facility, which came online in summer 2020.

The Residual Treatment Facility (RTF) was built over five years and was part of the CRD’s $775 million Core Area Wastewater Treatment Project.

The RTF is intended to reprocess some of the region's waste. Instead of pumping treated waste into the ocean, Greater Victoria sewage would instead be turned into biosolids that resemble tiny pellets that could be sent to the Lafarge cement plant in Richmond, B.C., to be burned as fuel. 

Right now, the pellets don’t meet Lafarge’s specifications, as they are not the right size, so the CRD had to do something with the biosolids the plant was producing. (CTV)

In the years since then, however, the RTF has faced several setbacks and now the Peninsula Biosolids Coalition (PBC) says that the CRD has spread vast amounts of the biosolids in the Hartland Landfill.

"Recently released CRD data is cause for concern, showing that contrary to assurances given to the public that a maximum of 700 tonnes would be spread, in 2021 over 6,600 tonnes of biosolids were spread or buried at Hartland," the group said in a release Tuesday.

Overall, the PBC says the treatment facility produced 7,261 tonnes of biosolids last year, some 2,220 of which qualified as B.C.'s "Class A" standard which could be used at the cement factory in Richmond.

Of that 2,220 tonnes, only 631 actually made it to Lafarge, according to the Peninsula Biosolids Coalition, with the remaining 1,589 tonnes being spread at Hartland, alongside the other 5,000 tonnes that did not meet the Class A qualification.

TREATMENT PLANT STILL COMING ONLINE

In a statement Tuesday, the CRD said it was still working on making the treatment plant fully operational, at which point more of the biosolids would reach the Class A level.

Meanwhile, the CRD says labour shortages and transportation woes over the past two years, which have impacted a range of industries, also hampered its ability to ship its Class A biosolids to the Lower Mainland.

"Given the complexity of the wastewater treatment process, the board expects that it may take up to January 2023 for the entire system to be fully effective," said the CRD.

The CRD adds that it is only placing the biosolids in a 10-hectare area of the Hartland Landfill that's been identified as a dumping site that can benefit from some of the compounds present in the biosolids.

The 10-hectare area was approved for use as a contingency plan by both the CRD and Ministry of Environment, according to the Capital Regional District.

The contingency plan allows for an estimated 7,900 to 19,000 bulk tonnes of biosolids to be placed in the 10-hectare area until the plant is fully operational, and until a long-term plan for the biosolids is developed.

CURRENT CONCERNS

In order for biosolids to reach a Class A certification in B.C., the products must have a "beneficial use", and the CRD says it plans to have a long-term beneficial use strategy in place by Dec. 31, 2025, at the latest.

In the meantime, the Peninsula Biosolids Coalition says the tonnes of biosolids that are being dumped at the landfill run a risk of harming the local environment, with the Hartland area being used for recreation – such as mountain biking – and bordering residential areas.

The group is also concerned that potential contaminants could escape the landfill and make their way into nearby waterways, such as the Tod Creek Watershed.

The CRD reiterates that it's working on long-term plans for the biosolids that would move them away from the landfill.

The Capital Regional District also says that a ban enacted in 2011, based on concerns from agricultural advocacy groups and members of the public, prevents the CRD from laying the biosolids anywhere else in the region, despite the province suggesting that as a potential short-term option.

With files from CTV News Vancouver Island's Brendan Strain