The municipality will need to find a way to get rid of its growing pile of biosolids after learning Suez North America, the operator of the water treatment plant, isn鈥檛 responsible for disposing the organic material.
鈥淎s far as I can tell Suez is doing everything we鈥檝e contractually agreed to have them do,鈥� said Bruce Thompson, director of operations, during a council meeting on April 18.
In August, Janet Cooper, the town鈥檚 environmental stewardship coordinator, told council that space for Jasper鈥檚 biosolids was running out after tests revealed the compost it produces is unfit for the park.
Biosolids are organic material removed from Jasper鈥檚 wastewater after it is treated. The biosolids are mixed with wood chips at the town鈥檚 wastewater treatment plant before being loaded into a dump truck and sent to the transfer station to dry out and cure. The material is then tested and used as 鈥渃lass B鈥� compost.
The problem is the compost was supposed to be used by Parks Canada as soil for site reclamation, however it has not been used in the park after tests revealed the presence of 鈥渧iable non-native weed seeds.鈥�
鈥淭he challenge we have is doing something with the biosolids once they have been classified as class B compost,鈥� said Thompson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult to find places to take it.鈥�
In August, Mayor Richard Ireland and council were under the impression that Suez North America (formerly United Water) was responsible for getting rid of the organic material.
鈥淗ow did it go from they to we?鈥� asked Coun. Gilbert Wall.
Thompson reiterated that Suez North America was never legally obligated to get rid of the material.
鈥淪uez was never responsible to market the material. As I understand the municipality of Jasper in conjunction with Parks Canada were looking for options to use it on roadsides and projects.鈥�
According to the municipality, Jasper鈥檚 wastewater treatment plant generates approximately 36,000 metric tonnes of biosolids a year and because Parks Canada has not been using it, stockpiles have been getting larger and larger every year.
To try and find a solution, council approved spending $15,000 from the environmental stewardship fund in September.
According to Cooper, the plan will evaluate the town鈥檚 entire biosolids operation and come up with short-term solutions as well as a long term strategy to manage the growing problem.
鈥淲e鈥檙e arranging a meeting with stakeholders in the next month to talk about improving site conditions and processes and we鈥檙e also working on a destination for the material,鈥� said Thompson.
He has also commissioned a consultant to survey municipalities in Alberta with more than 25,000 people to find out what they do to get rid of their organic material.
In Banff, the municipality works with a gravel company to turn it into a fertilizer, explained Thompson.
鈥淲e鈥檙e looking for options in the region here,鈥� he said. 鈥淩ight now there isn鈥檛 any sustainable or large volume use that we know of in the region.鈥�
Paul Clarke | [email protected]
