Otter Lake landfill limits spark concerns over possible sites

Limits on the size of Halifax's existing landfill have reignited the question of where to put the region's garbage and one councillor is ready to protest it.

"I'll chain myself to a bulldozer if I have to make sure this does not happen in St. Margarets Bay," Matt Whitman, thecouncillor for Hammonds Plains - St. Margarets, told CBC NewsThursday.

Halifax is prohibited from from expanding itslandfill in Otter Lake near Timberleaafter a privatemember's bill passed at the behest of Timberlea-ProspectMLA Iain Rankin.

The legislation prevents the municipalityfrom increasing the height of landfill cells at Otter Lake to extend its life.

Speculation 'not helpful'

Whitman said he wished NDP MLA Denise Peterson-Rafusehad moved for protections similar to those ofRankin, back when the NDP wasin power.

Peterson-Rafuse, who is on medical leave,represents Chester-St.Margaret'sin the legislature.She noted byemaillate Thursday afternoon that there is no proposal for a landfill in her riding, and that there were nonewhen the NDP wasin government.

"Matt Whitman's speculation on this issue is not helpful for our community and he seems very ill-informed on the issue,"Peterson-Rafusesaid in theemail.

"In fact, those lands were part of the Bowater lands that the NDP bought back for the people of Nova Scotia."

St. Margarets Bay second choice

Halifax solid wastemanager Matt Keliher told council this weekthe Head of St Margarets Bay was identified as the only other location that met provincial "technical requirements" when Otter Lake was chosen in the mid-1990s.

Back then, the St. Margarets Bayland was owned by the Bowater Mersey pulp mill company. Keliher suggested itappears to bea more attractive location now.

"The land is now owned by the provinceand the province is in the process of constructing a new interchange between exit 5 and 6,which would make it easier to access that piece of property," said Keliher.

But that's not a given.

Decision not imminent

The Otter Lake sitestill has anywherefrom 18 years to 50 years of useful life, depending on garbage volumes, saidKeliher.

Keliheralso told CBC News that St. Margarets Bay may or may not meet today's provincial requirements.

Mayor Mike Savage said the prospect of picking a new landfill isn't imminent. He said there was concern the region would be looking for a new landfill location next year, but now he said it looks like that won't be needed within the next decade.

"I got tothink in 10 to 15 yearsthere will be some other technology to deal with waste," said Savage.

• Nova Scotia only reaches 20 per cent of waste diversion target

'It won't be the Bay'

Although Whitman acknowledges it may be 18 years or much longer before the city needs anew landfill, he saysSt. Margarets Baybeing a"runner up" location is a cause for concern.

"Hopefully,I'll be around for 18 more years. It won't be the Bay I won't allow it," Whitman told CBC News.

"I willwork with my colleagues not to allow it. I'd rather have the garbage go outside HRM than go to St. Margarets Bay."

NIMBY: 'Proud to say it'

Whitman,up for re-election this fall,said the"pristine" former Bowater Mersey lands are not an appropriate place for a landfill.

"This isNIMBY:not in my backyard. I'm proud to say it," he said.

MLA unapologetic

Rankin's bill has touched off a fit of pique in council, at which the provincialLiberals were accused of short circuiting municipal wastemanagement.

The Liberal MLA says he'sunapologetic, and that hewas holding both levels of government to promises made when Otter Lake was first picked.

• Council plans to send letter to province outlining concerns with Otter Lake landfill bill

"Thecommunity accepted the landfill based on [a lifespan of]25 years," Rankin toldCBC News.

"Even with this bill,they won't have to look for a new landfill site well into decades in to the future. I think there are other opportunities to find waste solutions. There might not ever need [to]be another landfill site."

Premier Stephen McNeil also rejected claims of provincial interference.

"The member who represents that riding wanted to make sure what was committed to that community was adhered to," he said outside the legislature Thursday.

"That's all that bill does."