Otter Lake landfill overhaul modified after community talks

After months of discussions with a community group, Halifax city staff have modified their recommendations to overhaul the Otter Lake landfill.

The original report for overhauling Otter Lake included recommendations to shut down the sortingfacility and turn the site into a garbage campus by adding composting and recycling plants.

Those recommendations didnt go over well with nearby residents, socity staff discussed the proposal with acommunity monitoring group over the past few months.

Ken Donnelly is a spokesman for the Otter Lake community monitoring committee and says he thinks the group has accomplished what it set out to do.

"I think we've come together and made some decisions that will, hopefully, if council approves them, will continue to enhance and maintain the environmental protection of the community,"he said.

The latest suggestions involve holding off on the sorting facility and the garbage campus for five years, but going ahead with a proposal to increase the height of the landfill by 15 metres.

The reportsays the increase could save the city up to $85 million and keep the site open past a 2024 closing date.

Donnelly says that may be premature.

Council to debate Tuesday

"We can see potentially, there might be, they might be able to build it higher and as a result, be able to reduce the cost, but we believe that before they decide they might extend the life of the landfill, they should be proving to the local community that it can be done,"he said.

The councillor who represents the Otter Lake area, Reg Rankin, says a height increase may be technically possible but it will depend on the environmental impact.

"Elevated height comes with elevated risk,"he said. "Of odour and litter, these are the important considerations. Show us there's no worst day ahead."

There's also a proposal to allow the export of commercial and institutional waste to facilities outside Halifax.

Halifax council will debate the latest recommendations Tuesday morning.