New RDCK transfer station set for construction in spring of 2013
By Erin Perkins
The long awaited design for a new Nelson transfer station is set to be completed this November according to Mike Morrison, Regional District Central Kootenay resource recovery manager.
The estimated $3 million project, with construction beginning in the spring of 2013, is replacing the current transfer site at Lakeside Drive in Nelson, which features both an old dump site and a waste transfer station.
The project concept has been in the works for several years — as many as 15 years looking for a suitable relocation site for the current Lakeside Drive location along the waterfront in Nelson.
“We felt it was not best practice to have a waste disposal site on the waterfront,” said Morrison. “We felt it would be a positive thing for the community to have the garbage transfer off that area.”
The 22 acre property for the new station was purchased last year, but not without controversy.
The property is located five kilometres west of Nelson at the end of Insight Drive. The closest neighbour is Pacific Insight Electronics Corporation.
And many Pacific Insight employees expressed concerns about smell, traffic and safety the new site would create during the public consultation process and via a 130-signature petition.
Stuart Ross, Pacific Insight chief executive officer also wrote a letter to the RDCK opposing the new site arguing the site would have a negative impact on the surrounding properties.
“We’ve come up with a plan to address a lot of the (concerns),” said Morrison.
The big concern was with an increase in traffic and a potential for safety issues by employees of Pacific Insight.
Morrison said when the facility is in full swing there could be as many as 400 commercial and private vehicles travelling to the waste transfer station daily.
The RDCK had the Ministry of Transportation examine the intersection at Insight Drive and Highway 3A and they said it would be safe as it is now presently designed, said Morrison.
While the site is 22 acres, only about four or five of those acres will be used for temporary waste collection, storage and sorting, creating a treed buffer zone, which should reduce any smells and noise caused by the activity on site, said Morrison.
“(Vehicles) will be driving past Pacific Insight but (the staff) won’t be able to see our facility,” said Morrison. “Typically transfer stations are not high risk areas for odours.”
“(The new site) will allow for more and more efficient waste transfer equipment,” continued Morrison. “That will be a cost savings to the way was is transferred in the region . . .. The layout of the transfer station will improve traffic flow.”
The waste gathered at the site is shipped to either recycling centers or to the landfill site outside Salmo.
After the new waste transfer site has opened and the current Lakeside Drive site has been reclaimed, the City of Nelson will take back the waterfront location and have the option of using the present site for another project.
Morrison said there has been talk of turning it into a park, which is a common way of dealing with old landfill sites.
Morrison expects the design for the new transfer station will be made public in November, at which time there will be further opportunities for input to be made by stakeholders like Pacific Insight.
The new transfer station is just one of many changes the RDCK is making over the next few years as part of their Resource Recovery Plan.
To view the plan, visit the RDCK website at www.rdck.bc.ca.
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