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Nicola Valley’s News Voice Since 1905
merrittherald.com
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MERRITT HERALD FREE
THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2015 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
IHA investigating Woodward Road biosolids plan By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
Representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Interior Health Authority say they ensure biosolids are regulated, and health and environmental risks are next to none. The Civic Centre was packed for the day-long Nicola Watershed Community Round Table public forum on Monday, which had six presentations on the topic, each of which was followed by questions from the crowd of about 400 people. Residents raised concerns surrounding public health, environmental impacts and odour. Some were concerned with the regulations and expressed displeasure with a lack of public consultation, which led to the product being trucked here from other cities. While members of the public stood at one end of the room raising concerns — and sometimes even heated opposition toward biosolids — presenters at the other end painted an overall positive view of the fertilizer. The public forum was brought together by the Nicola Watershed Community Round Table after concerns were raised by residents of the Sunshine Valley Estates that drinking water sources in the Sunshine Valley might be contaminated if the company BioCentral was allowed to apply biosolids to a property on Woodward Road. The company has been operating a biosolids composting facility on Sunshine Valley Road for about a Merritt Youth & Family Resources Society
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Picket signs stuck into the snow outside the Civic Centre on Monday indicate a shared sentiment by some people in Merritt and the Sunshine Valley about the production and use of biosolids in the area. Michael Potestio/Herald
year, much to the dismay of nearby residents. The Ministry of Environment’s Cassandra Caunce told the Herald that after hearing people’s concerns, the ministry plans to visit BioCentral’s composting facility this week to verify the operation is indeed on par with provincial regulations. Caunce also said that if provincial regulations are followed, there should be little to no risk to human health and the environment in the area where biosolids activity is taking place. Interior Health Authority health protection team leader Mike Adams told the crowd that when it comes to the land application of
biosolids, the role of IHA is to determine if there are significant human health risks that have not been addressed by the proponent of a land application plan. IHA is responsible for ensuring compliance with the Drinking Water Protection Act, and the proponent of land application of biosolids is obligated to ensure drinking water sources are protected, he said. “Interior Health takes the health of Merritt residents seriously, and we review all applications. If there’s ever a time that we felt the risks were too high, our medical health officer does have the authority to issue a do not proceed order,” Adams said. Both the IHA and the
Ministry of Environment have reviewed the biosolids land application plan for the Woodward Road property and have requested more information from the proponent with regards to setbacks from surface water, slopes on the property, groundwater, drinking water and habitat protection. “Once we get that additional information we’ll review it, and after we’ve had a chance to review it, then we would make some decisions about what the next appropriate steps are,” Adams said. If there are issues that cannot be corrected, the IHA could issue an order not to proceed with the land application.
INFORMATION EXPECTED IN THE SPRING Environmental health officers have visited the site where the biosolids are to be applied. Neil Caine, the waterboard chair for the Sunshine Valley Estates, has said the location of BioCentral’s application of biosolids on Woodward Road is in the housing development’s watershed. IHA spokesperson Michaela Swan said the intended location to apply biosolids is in a watershed, but the IHA needs more information to determine if the application meets the requirements to be in such a
sensitive area. Adams told the Herald the IHA’s expectation from a proponent operating in a watershed is to identify water sources that could be impacted, and make sure no drinking water wells are nearby. Adams said one of the multiple pieces of information the IHA is seeking from the proponent with regards to Woodward Road is to determine the high water mark of a seasonal lake located on the property. Knowing this would ensure land application of biosolids is taking place outside a buffer zone for the lake. “There was some sitespecific information regarding this notification that we wanted additional information on,” Adams said. The Ministry of Environment will also assess the requested information and visit the proposed site for land application of biosolids, Caunce said. “We’re monitoring it closely,” she said. The additional information requested by the Ministry of Environment and IHA is expected to be received in the spring. Until these regulatory bodies review the additional material and consider it compliant with the province’s Organic Matter Recycling Regulation, no biosolids can be spread on the Woodward Road property. Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart attended the public forum and information session on Monday. She said she didn’t know much about biosolids prior to the meeting.
See ‘Regulatory’ Page 3
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