Over 80 per cent of the biosolids produced by the Capital Regional District so far in 2022 have been sent to the Hartland Landfill rather than the Lafarge cement manufacturing facility as problems at the plant persist.
The latest numbers, which are from the end of October, show 2,130 tonnes of biosolids have been sent to the Hartland Landfill within the leachate containment areas in 2022, out of the 2,600 tonnes that have been produced so far. The other 470 tonnes have been sent to Lafarge.
The issues in October are due to equipment failures at Lafarge, meaning none of the 202 tonnes of Class A Biosolids produced at the CRD’s Residuals Treatment Facility (RTF) were sent to Lafarge, instead being used as an interim landfill cover layer at Hartland.
Throughout the year, Lafarge has had maintenance issues and a number of incidents that have limited their ability to take the CRD’s biosolids, according to CRD spokesperson Andy Orr.
Orr added that the biosolids are managed through the CRD’s contingency plans, with some that used for mix to enhance tree growing.
Those numbers are better than this time last year, when less than seven per cent of the region’s treated sewage for the year had made it to Lafarge. In 2021, more than 6,000 tonnes of the de-watered sludge, either as less-processed “controlled waste” or provincial Class A biosolids, were deposited at the Hartland landfill instead of at Lafarge.
In the meantime, Orr said there aren’t any cost-savings for sending the biosolids to Hartland versus Lafarge.
Orr said the CRD would present a report into its biosolids program next week, adding that Lafarge anticipates being able to receive biosolids in late December.
READ MORE: CRD dumps 6,100 tonnes of treated sewage at landfill – not the expected 700 – so far in 2021
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