A recent problem at Whistler's new compost facility in the Callaghan Valley resulted in almost 100 tonnes of sewage sludge, or biosolids, from Squamish being dumped into the Squamish landfill.
One of two compost tunnels at the $13.77 million facility was shut down for about 10 days after one of the trays full of organic waste buckled about two weeks ago and got stuck about halfway through the tunnel, said Brian Barnett, Whistler's general manager of environmental services. The tray jammed on the rails inside the tunnel, resulting in some minor damage that had to be repaired.
With one tunnel out of commission, the compost facility was operating at half its regular production capacity for the 10 days required to repair the tunnel, Barnett said. The tunnel was returned to service around the middle of last week.
Though excess organic waste and biosolids from Whistler were able to be stored at the facility, the biosolids from Squamish could not be accepted during the shutdown, he said.
Squamish Mayor Greg Gardner said almost 10 tonnes of biosolids are disposed of each day in Squamish.
"There was not the capacity to either process or store our sludge," he said.
During the 10-day tunnel shutdown, the biosolids were sent to the Squamish landfill as part of the regular solid waste stream, Gardner said Tuesday (Feb. 17).
Before the Whistler compost facility began its operations in November, Squamish's biosolids were sent to the landfill. But at that time there was a treatment pond process in place that contained and processed the biosolids differently than regular garbage, Gardner said.
Because the District of Squamish has committed to send its biosolids to the Whistler composter, the treatment pond process is no longer in place, he said.
Disposing of biosolids in the regular waste stream is not the "preferred practice" for either the district or the Ministry of Environment, Gardner said. But because access to composting facilities was unavailable for a short time, he said he doesn't think the interim measures were a "huge problem."
Gardner also said he's not worried about possible future shutdowns that would force the district to send more sludge to the landfill. Whistler's composter was in operation for three years in Squamish before it was shut down in 2006 because of ongoing odour complaints. Gardner said he doesn't recall any significant operational issues when the facility was in use in Squamish.
"I have no reason to expect this is going to be an ongoing problem," he said.
Barnett described the tunnel shutdown as a "pretty minor cost; pretty minor disruption." He said the total repair bill was about $30,000.
It's not surprising there has been a "hiccup" during the start-up period of the new facility, Barnett said.
The tray that caused the jam-up in the tunnel likely buckled from wear and tear, and it's possible that it was somewhat related to cold weather, Barnett said. The trays on which the organic waste is fed into the tunnels were part of the used system the municipality purchased from Carney's Waste Services in 2007, he said.
After the problem was discovered, the rest of the trays were inspected and as many as three others showed signs of potential failure. Barnett said the trays were sent out for repairs to prevent a repeat of the problem.
