Abandoned waste pile to cost Penticton Indian Band millions to dispose of, says regional board report

PENTICTON – Even with reduced tipping fees, the cost to remove a huge pile of garbage from a locatee property on the Penticton Indian Band is going to cost more than a million dollars.

Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen’s board of directors will be asked to reduce tipping fees at the Campbell Mountain landfill to allow an unassessed pile of demolition and construction waste totalling approximately 5,000 tonnes to be hauled to the waste facility.

The huge waste pile has been an eyesore on Lot 210, Green Mountain Road in the Penticton Indian Band for several years. Former local waste hauler Appleton Waste Services set up a sorting and receiving facility on the site and accumulated the huge pile of waste materials prior to filing for bankruptcy earlier this year.

The Penticton Indian Band is approaching the regional district for a reduced tipping feet from $700 per tonne to $220 per tonne to reduce the total cost of dumping the waste from $3,500,000 to $1,100,000.

In a report prepared for the board for this Thursday’s regular meeting, Manager of Operation Andrew Reeder says the reduced rate would represent a loss of $2.4 million in revenue, but would cover costs associated with receiving the waste.

Some of the material, which consists largely of construction waste, may contain asbestos and would incur higher costs to process than regular household waste.

He says a new area would have to be prepared for deposition of the material, a new road constructed and more soil imported to bury the waste.

“There is a very real danger that this type operation could occur again on the various band lands throughout the RDOS. Providing subsidies for the cleanup of these materials will set a precedent. It is in the interest of the regional district, the Penticton Indian Band, the federal government and the province to work together to prevent these types of facilities being built in the future,” Reeder wrote in his report to the board.

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