S TANDARD TERRACE
1.30
$
$1.24 PLUS 6¢ GST
VOL. 26 NO. 38
www.terracestandard.com
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Gunk builds up in lagoons By JOSH MASSEY THE CITY’s sewage treatment system, like many across the country, is getting unduly clogged by balls of condoms and other latex products, tampons, rags and grease, and city workers who deal with jammed machinery are asking residents for help in cutting down on non-flushables entering the system. Not only will this save staff from doing an unpleasant task, it will also save municipalities across Canada millions of dollars. “There’s so many products that are in the stores now that are marked as disposable that don’t break down,” said the city environmental services foreman Rob Hoekstra. Some items, like rags and wet-wipes, are advertised as flushable, which they are, but they don’t break down properly so become a problem once they reach the lagoons at the city’s sewage treatment facility located at the west end of Graham Ave. on the south side of town. “Dental floss is a huge problem. It’s strong, loves to wrap around pumps and propellers and builds up over time,” said Hoekstra. According to the fore-
josh massey PHOTO
A mixture of items that don’t break down are routinely raked out before entering city sewage lagoons.
man, the debris and floss combine with grease that is dumped down sinks and sewers, forming balls that clog and disrupt the sewer pipes under the streets in town. “It’s like rolling a snowball down the hill, it just gets bigger and bigger,” he said
of the system that is gravitypropelled. “It causes maintenance issues and affects how the treatment plant and the aeration system runs.” In the end, it affects how pure the effluent is released into the Skeena River after going through the treatment process, he added.
“Ultimately, it’s all our problem because it comes down here to the waste water treatment plant and effects the quality of the effluent that goes into the Skeena River and affects the quality of the water in the river, which is the last thing we want,” he said.
The aeration system is especially important because it provides oxygen bubbles into the two hockey-rink sized settling ponds where the waste gets processed naturally for 30 days before the leftover is pumped back into the Skeena. The diffusers that send out the
bubbles tend to get clogged, and were costly to clean last year. “We had to hire more help and the cost of cleaning all the diffusers in one round is $15,000, and we have had to partially clean them,” said Hoekstra, adding approximately 24 to 30 tons of refuse is removed manually from the filters each year. Hoekstra said that in no way do staff want to blame residents. He is just calling on the city for help so he and the crew can spend less time and money cleaning and replacing parts. “We’re not the only waste water treatment plants that have this problems,” he said. There is in fact a group of 25 Canadian municipalities called the Municipal Enforcement Sewer Use Group formed to promote a change in industry labelling of what is flushable and not. It says the problem costs municipalities $250 million a year. According to Hoekstra, the basic mantra for responsible flushing is the three Ps: Pooh, Pee, Paper. “It’s amazing what people flush down the toilet,” he said. The foreman said he has also found golf and tennis balls, and undergarments.
Tipping fees kick in at local landfill Starting today, January 1, 2014, the city of Terrace has begun imposing tipping fees on certain types of residential waste dropped off at the Terrace Landfill on Kalum Lake Rd. The new fee is $12.50 plus tax for loads of residential construction and demolition waste, as well as land clearing waste. Previously all residential waste could be dropped off without charge.
No change has been made to the commercial fees. “There will continue to be no tipping fee for regular refuse originating from residential properties and the tipping fees for commercial clients remain unchanged,” reads the staff recommendation, accepted by Terrace city council in November. The amendment, which is to landfill site bylaw No. 1425-1995, also includes a document that defines the
difference between residential construction and demolition waste and regular residential waste. The distinction has to do with volume and size of load and the types of material. In making the recommendation, city sustainability coordinator Tara Irwin said the inclusion of a fee at the current Terrace landfill is part of a process whereby Terrace and Thornhill will align their solid waste pro-
grams and work toward an integrated system. Within a few years, the current Terrace landfill is scheduled to be closed, while construction for a new landfill at Forceman Ridge south of Terrace will begin next year which will be used by both Thornhill and Terrace. Irwin said that normal yard waste would still be accepted without a fee, but larger items like big pieces
of wood would trigger the new tipping fee based on volume. Another reason for the new fee, said Irwin, is that it will ensure that Thornhill residents don't bring their garbage over to Terrace to avoid paying on their side. At the November meeting, city councillors Marylin Davies and James Cordeiro recommended that Irwin do something to improve the consistency with which tip-
ping fees are issued at the Terrace landfill after hearing of stories of people being charged irregularly and sometimes, they said, unjustly. Irwin responded that much of the Terrace landfill is operated on an honour system and that as far as she is aware any issues with charging are isolated because the current attendants looking after the landfill have been doing an excellent job.
Helping hands
What’s up, doc?
Year in Review
Volunteer award winners say the entire community shares in the award \COMMUNITY A14
Recruitment program draws a new medical specialist to Terrace \NEWS A3
Take a look back at the sports stories that made Terrace cheer in 2013 \SPORTS A19