Halifax's Otter Lake landfill won't expand upwards under new deal

Halifax council has put an end to an ongoing debate about the city's Otter Lake landfill by voting not to expand the facility by piling garbage even higher. 

Halifax's solid waste manager, Matt Keliher, said Wednesday that staff will move ahead with council's direction not to pursue "vertical expansion."

The decision is part of a new agreement with the site's operator, Mirror Nova Scotia, that was approved unanimously on Tuesday. 

Details of the agreement are confidential until it is signed, Keliher says, but he believes the decision not to expand will appease community concerns the city had been bumping up against since last year.

"What we've found is that, based on some new figures from the operator and their consulting firm, that the landfill can hold more waste and as a result of that extend the life of the facility," Keliher said. 

The new figures were provided by an engineering firm employed by Mirror Nova Scotia, he said, and were received just a few weeks ago.

Landfill won't 'tower' over community

Otter Lake is where most of city's garbage ends up — about 140,000 tonnes per year.

In January 2014, city staff filed a report that recommended an overhaul of the site. Changes included upgrades to a sealed-off waste cell so it could be be expanded vertically to help increase the site's lifespan beyond 2024. 

A representative community group that signed the original deal with the municipality to allow the landfill site in their backyard, said the overhaul would violate promises the city had made in that agreement. 

• Otter Lake landfill cost-saving changes 'renege on contract'

• 'Something smells' with proposed Otter Lake landfill changes

The city's choice to not pursue vertical expansion is "a good thing," says Ken Donnelly, the community group's consultant. 

"We were concerned about the prospect of odours and issues like that from a vertical height expansion of the landfill and so given that they're not increasing the height, those concerns go away," Donnelly told CBC News. "It also means that the landfill is not going to tower over the communities.

"We've known for a long time that the landfill was going to be at the capacity that it is. The city seems to have come to that understanding later than we did." 

'It's a win'

Keliher says through community consultation, the announcement makes "everybody a little bit more comfortable than where they were."

"At the end of the day, it's a win for the operator, the municipality and the community," Keliher said. 

The city had also been considering cutting off commercial waste from the site. But that garbage — about 80,000 tonnes a year from universities, hospitals, office towers and apartment buildings — will continue to be taken to Otter Lake.

Donnelly said his group will be "vigilant" in making sure commitments by the city are honoured.

"We often talk about verifiable trust and we'll trust them with their word, but we want to see the action as well."