'Vindication': Residents welcome removal of illegal waste from dumping site near Cultus Lake, B.C.

More than a year after trucks began dumping load after load of business waste near her home in southwest British Columbia, D'Arcy Henderson finally witnessed a load get hauled away.

Trucks began removing waste from a property on Iverson Road near Cultus Lake, B.C., about 100 kilometres east of Vancouver, on June 28. It had originally been dropped off at the Columbia Valley site over the course of several months in 2022 without provincial approval, violating B.C.'s Environmental Management Act.

"The word that ricochets is 'vindication,'" Henderson told CBC News. "We've had serious, legitimate concerns and thankfully the government agencies involved have validated that."

The waste, which from a distance might look like compost, contains large amounts of plastics, wood, and other foreign materials, deeming it unsuitable for soil enhancement. It was discharged by the Abbotsford-based organic waste conversion company Fraser Valley Renewables (FVR), which collects and processes municipal organic waste, grocery and restaurant waste, and yard waste throughout Metro Vancouver.

Residents in the Columbia Valley, just south of Chilliwack B.C., had raised concerns the waste could leach into an aquifer below the soil and contaminate the local water supply.

The removal comes after countless complaints by residents and local politicians to B.C.'s Ministry of Environment over the growing waste piles. Ministry inspectors visited the property in November 2022 and issued a notice to stop dumping a month later.

The Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) then ordered FVR and the property owner to begin removing the material by June 14.

The ALC told CBC News it was advised on Friday that removal was underway, more than two weeks after it had set the initial start date.

In an email, ALC operations director Avtar Sundher said FVR must remove all materials and remediate the land by May 31, 2024. Further penalties are still under consideration.

CBC News has contacted FVR for comment.

Residents still have lingering concerns over the speed of the removal.

"I'm ecstatic," Henderson added. "[But] I'm a little disappointed in the pace of action. I think we all would like to see the same intense delivery they used in bringing the material to our neighbourhood employed in bringing it out of our neighbourhood."

Year-long odyssey

The waste was dropped on 810 Iverson Rd., a property owned by farmer Bruce Vander Wyck.

An FVR spokesperson told CBC News in January that the company was working with Vander Wyck to increase the nutrient values of his farm land. It was to be screened for foreign materials like plastics onsite.

Residents say they were first notified of the project in March 2022. In the months that followed, residents say as many as 12 semi-trailers per day were seen delivering waste. Complaints were filed to the Environment Ministry and the ALC in July.

By the time ministry inspectors visited the site on Nov. 17, some of the material had already been applied to the land.

A ministry report says the piles of unscreened waste "were observed to have a visible amount of foreign matter," while samples of the screened, land-applied material also did not meet requirements of less than one per cent foreign matter. Foreign matter refers to plastic, woods and other types of garbage found in untreated compost.

Officers concluded that FVR's decision to store, screen and apply the untreated material at the farm amounted to discharging business waste without government approval, an offence that can carry a $1-million fine and even six months imprisonment.

The ministry ordered FVR to "implement necessary changes" to the waste material to comply with provincial rules, as well as cover the waste piles with tarps to prevent runoff and solids from escaping.

The owner and FVR then applied for a non-farm use permit to keep the waste on-site, which would have to go through both the Fraser Valley Regional District and the ALC. FVRD directors voted against it on May 11.

"The outcry from the community clearly indicates that this is something that is not wanted," said elected director Taryn Dixon at the FVRD meeting.

A removal plan suggests there are 14,400 tonnes of material to be removed, but residents suspect the total volume could be double. FVR has not told CBC News exactly how much material was deposited.

The ALC says it does not know where the waste is being relocated to, but that it stipulates that it cannot go to another site on the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Provincewide issue

Henderson hopes the collective actions from area residents inspires other communities to follow suit if confronted with the same problem.

"I'm not entirely sure that other communities have fared that well, and I hope if nothing else, there's a template now, for other communities because let's face it — this product is going to continue to be produced, and it has to go somewhere," she said.

"I'm sure it will happen again," she said.