In many cases, organizations outsource their operations to save money.
But Whistler has been having its asphalt made at a pricier cost in Squamish despite the fact it can done for cheaper within its own municipal boundaries.
On April 24, Whistler council awarded a $1.33-million paving contract to Alpine Paving (1978) Ltd., which has plants in both communities.
Yet, a condition of the agreement — which has also been present in previous contracts awarded to Alpine — is that the material is instead manufactured in Squamish rather than Whistler.
The owner of Alpine told The Chief that Whistler can pay roughly between $50,000 to $90,000 extra each year in additional trucking costs as a result.
The reason? This arrangement is the product of a long dispute that pitted some Whistler residents and the municipality against Alpine.
Alpine Paving and its sister company Whistler Aggregates have been mining aggregate and operating an asphalt plant in the area since 1989.
A landfill and a wastewater treatment plant were the sole neighbours of the Whistler asphalt facility for a long time. But an athletes’ village was built in the area once the landfill was decommissioned, bringing in roughly 1,200 new residents after the Olympic Games finished.
Some residents weren’t happy living near an asphalt plant and wanted it out of the neighbourhood. Efforts to move the plant ultimately led to legal action, but the B.C. Supreme Court ended up ruling in favour of Alpine Paving in 2012.
Furthermore, despite the resort municipality’s objections, the province renewed Alpine’s tenure on its land in 2017 for another 10 years.
In its written decision to renew Alpine’s tenure, the province said the company’s consultants were measuring emissions against incorrect benchmarks for a few years, but the inadvertent non-compliance wasn’t a reason to deny the application.
“As a result of the consultant’s error, CO [carbon monoxide] emissions from the asphalt plant were not in compliance from 2013 to 2015,” reads a decision from the Ministry of Forests, signed by Dave Southam.
In those three years, the plant’s carbon monoxide, or CO, emissions were respectively 314, 217 and 216 milligrams per standard cubic metre when the limit was 200 milligrams per standard cubic metre. The province said Alpine’s consultants were mistakenly measuring emissions against a limit of 400 milligrams per standard cubic metre.
Authorities followed up with the company, and in July 2017, the emissions were dialled down to 81 milligrams per cubic metre.
Southam wrote: “I am satisfied that Whistler Aggregates Ltd. [which in charge of Alpine Paving’s plant] has sufficiently addressed the CO compliance issue, that enforcement measures exist to deal with any future potential compliance issues, and the previous inadvertent non-compliance is not a basis to deny Whistler Aggregates Ltd.’s replacement application.”
In his decision, Southam also added that air quality monitoring reports showed no significant reduction in air quality on days when the asphalt plant was operating.
The plant would stay. But since 2012, Whistler has been insistent on getting any asphalt it purchases through Alpine Paving via its Squamish plant on Centennial Way.
It is unclear if the change has resulted in environmental benefits for Whistler.
The Resort Municipality of Whistler did not answer The Chief’s question as to whether the air has improved since it started to source its asphalt from Squamish.
Instead, its communications department said that there doesn’t appear to be a link between the Whistler plant’s operation and air quality.
“The RMOW has operated an air quality monitoring station in Cheakamus Crossing since 2012, but to date has not found a correlation in air quality between when the asphalt plant operates and when it does not,” reads an email the municipality sent to The Chief.
However, one resident says moving asphalt production has made a positive difference for the neighbourhood.
Tim Koshul, who lives near Alpine Paving’s Whistler plant, was an outspoken opponent of the asphalt operations for a number of years.
He said that since Whistler started ordering asphalt from Squamish, the environment in his neighbourhood has changed for the better. “Compared to what it was, it’s night and day,” said Koshul.
“In the past, people would have to close their windows, they would have to keep their kids inside.”
“You could smell it; you could taste it,” he said.
But in recent years, the impact of the plant has lessened significantly, he said.
“I’ve noticed it maybe twice last summer and I used to notice it every couple of days,” he said, referring to the smell and noise.
However, the owner of Alpine Paving says that getting asphalt produced in Squamish makes little difference to Koshul’s neighbourhood, because the Whistler plant is still busy.
Frank Silveri says that while Whistler’s asphalt doesn’t get made at his Whistler plant, it’s kept busy with orders from other clients.
For example, the B.C. Ministry of Transportation orders asphalt from Alpine’s Whistler plant and private companies in Whistler also source the material from that plant, as well.
He said orders from the Resort Municipality of Whistler made up a relatively small amount of the work done at that location, so removing that work did not change noise and air conditions in that neighbourhood significantly.
Silveri also said that Squamish’s economy benefitted as a result of moving Whistler’s asphalt production to the district.
Squamish’s plant has been in operation since 1978.
In addition to bringing more business to truckers in town, Silveri said Alpine buys more product from Squamish supplier Coast Aggregates as a result.
With respect to Squamish’s environment, it’s unclear if processing Whistler asphalt here in town has made a difference to the air quality.
The Ministry of Environment has a monitoring station near Squamish Elementary, but that monitors the broader district area and is incapable of filtering out whether a single plant like Alpine is changing the atmosphere.
However, so far it appears as if no news is good news.
Graham Veale, an air quality meteorologist with the ministry, said the province hadn’t received any complaints associated with Alpine’s asphalt production in Squamish. “Generally, the plant has been in compliance,” said Veale. “They did have one emission test failure in 2016, but they did a retest a couple of months later and passed, so that would put them back in compliance.”
