The Duck Lake landfill is set to close June 2020. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Dumping the dump

Duck Lake to get provincial, federal funding for landfill decommission

Oct 17, 2019 | 5:58 PM

The Town of Duck Lake is getting support from both the provincial and federal governments.

Both levels of government have agreed to contribute over $200,000 to help the town get the ball rolling in decommissioning its landfill. The town’s landfill is set to be shut down in June of 2020 as it does not meet environmental standards set by the province.

Michelle Zurakowski, administrator for the Town of Duck Lake said there is lots to be done to get the process started.

“They require an ESA, which is an environmental site analysis, a cap plan, a closure plan and that’s just the engineering to see where you need to go from there,” she said.

The waste at the landfill will have to be dealt with when the site is decommissioned. (Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

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After the preliminary work is done, the actual work will start in terms of getting the site physically decommissioned. Decommissioning a site can involve a variety of work from making sure all waste is buried, to hauling certain items off site to be properly disposed of somewhere else. There also needs to be plans in place to monitor the site after the work is done.

Residents in the town get their garbage and recycling picked up by Loraas disposal. Zurakowski said they will not notice any disruptions when it comes to this service. However, when it comes to disposing of larger items like old appliances or yard waste there may be issues.

Looking toward the future, Zurakowski said there is currently no plan in place when it comes to replacing the landfill. She explained a future solution could possibly involve building a waste transfer station for people to drop off garbage before it is taken elsewhere, but the process involves much discussion.

“We are going to have to have consultations with the R.M. and see what happens and what we’re going to do,” she said.

(Michael Joel-Hansen/paNOW Staff)

MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn