Compost facility workshop planned

RDOS board votes for event to help determine fate of controversial proposal

Five years and $400,000 later, the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen voted Thursday to stage a workshop to help decide the fate of a controversial proposed compost facility.

A date for the gathering has not yet been decided, but RDOS chief administrative officer Bill Newell warned it will be difficult to find a consultant and set up the event before the fall municipal election campaign begins, which may dump the issue onto the next board.

Just as he has all along, Area F (West Bench) director Michael Brydon urged colleagues to make a decision and stick to it.

“We already went over this two months ago, so we’ve lost two months. It’s not rocket science. We just need to get on the same page here or not,” Brydon said.

“If you pass it off to the (next) board, we are running the risk of the province imposing a landfill gas tax on us.”

Brydon noted it may be possible to delay that tax, but disagreed a decision should wait until after the October election.

“If we put everything to the next board, we might as well stop having meetings now,” he said. “If we’re that lame, let’s admit it.” Summerland director Toni Boot urged RDOS staff to ensure those at the workshop are given the full financial picture of the facility, including the costs to the region as a whole if the local government does nothing.

“I think there are jurisdictions out there who think, ‘Well, it’s Penticton’s problem,’” Boot said, but “it’s not Penticton’s problem — it’s our problem.”

Plans for a regional compost facility have been in the works since 2013, at an estimated cost of $400,000 for RDOS staff time and consultants.

After studies were conducted on 20 sites, the board was presented a short list of three but, in February, rejected the last of them.

The facility, which would accept household organic waste, was intended in part as insurance against a possible B.C. government requirement to install a gas-capture system at the Campbell Mountain Landfill, expected to cost in the range of $20 million to $50 million.

A compost facility would also extend the life of local landfills by diverting organic material from them.