Vancouver balks at plan to dump city garbage

The City of Vancouver is throwing a wrench into plans by the Metro Vancouver Board to dump more waste in the city's main landfill site.

Last Friday, Metro Vancouver directors abandoned plans for a new landfill in the British Columbia interior, opting instead to dump more garbage into the Vancouver landfill in Delta.

But Tom Timm, Vancouver's chief engineer, says the city wasn't consulted, and won't agree to any plan until it has a chance to look at all of the implications.

Vancouver City Coun. Suzanne Anton said the city was taken completely by surprise last week when the Metro Vancouver Board killed plans for a new landfill location to replace the existing Cache Creek site near the city of Kamloops.

Instead of a new landfill, the board voted to try and reduce waste as much as possible, and look at possibility of burning garbage to generate energy.

It also voted to try and work out a long-term deal with the City of Vancouver to send excess garbage to the Vancouver landfill in Delta.

The problem, said Anton, is that the City of Vancouver wasn't told about the plan.

"Our staff had been told earlier in the week that this was not going to be on the agenda,'' she said. 

What it means for the city, according to Timm, is that the amount of garbage dumped in the Vancouver landfill could double.

Timm is recommending that no excess waste be dumped at the site until the city has a chance to look at all of risks, including the environmental and financial risks.