GFL report is in

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

An independent evaluation of the Green for Life (GFL) compost facility was submitted to Wheatland County Council on July 3, outlining findings and suggestions to issues raised by area residents.
The full report is posted under the July 3 council agenda, on the Wheatland County website.
“It is very thorough, and I think it addressed a lot of the concerns that the public had… and some of the areas that we need to work with Alberta Environment and Parks,” said Wheatland County Deputy Reeve Scott Klassen.
The evaluation was done by Dr. Daryl McCartney, a waste management and compost engineer in Alberta. The report attempted to review 11 general subject headings in best practises and operations for compost facilities.
McCartney stated the assessment was hindered somewhat, as GFL was not very cooperative with the assessment. He was not allowed in the plant or allowed discussions with employees. He said he did visit the site and made limited assessments from the boundary. He also spoke with residents and reviewed data collected on file with the county, allowing him to make some major and minor recommendations.
Historically, the site was set up to deal with waste from XL Foods in Calgary. In 1997, it was given a small facility rating that would deal with pen and paunch manure, switches and ears, and cardboard and waste wood. Over the years the site has been transferred to three separate owners and many upgrades to the facility have been done, such as an expanded compost area east of the engineered clay pad, abandoned and replaced boreholes, and additions of leachate ponds and a mixing bunker.
McCartney found figures presented for 2016 on sulphur intake was over the provincial limit. He stated waste material feedstock and sulphur should be included in the overall tonnage reported, and that an update on operational plans, facility plans and upgrades done since the original approval in 1997 should be reviewed by Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP), to confirm that approval is in place for any changes.
Using the 2017 operational plan, McCartney identified some improvements were needed in the plan that would curtail some of the odour. Things like developing better protocols for conditioning and covering wet feedstock, eliminating drywall from anaerobic environments, and outlining details of leachate pond operation and maintenance.
He suggested AEP look at the leachate pond and determine if it met current guidelines. He said the front gate should have a posting for local fire and police phone contact.
Wheatland County was tasked to confirm AEP’s definition of the word immediate, clarifying a timeline in the mixing of mature wet compost with off-spec sulphur, prior to storage. McCartney also wanted to determine if the procedure was done on a lined compost pad. He questioned whether best composting practises were occurring, but could not be conclusive due to limitations posed by GFL.
There have been complaints over the years and residents state they are not satisfied with response to their concerns. Registered complaints were not significant until 2016, as residents stated they were not confident a complaint would lead to action on the matter. Thirty-seven formal complaints via petition were received in 2016 and two in 2017. After speaking with a few residents and conducting a short outcome survey, where four residents indicated they wanted operations to cease until changes were made, McCartney suggested GFL develop a community engagement plan to improve communication with adjacent landowners and area residents.
“The key is really starting to work more closely and more formally, perhaps with Alberta Environment and Parks, around some of these issues… to get answers from them that they can confirm. These are some of the fairly specific items that they can address,” said McCartney.
As far as follow-up action, McCartney suggested that confirmation was needed on AEP’s current plan to deal with the issues.
“In situations like this, it is unfortunate that the sides are in a conflict situation. It is an odd one, as you don’t have any contract or formal process to deal with this. I would like to say this is unique, but it is not,” said McCartney.
Klassen indicated he thought AEP has not put this high on their priority list and are also learning as they go. He suggested that having a knowledgeable person working on the matter would be advantageous.
County administration said they are working on scheduling a meeting with GFL and AEP, and will update council in August or September as to the content of those discussions. County legal counsel said the lawyer representing GFL is open to negotiation and to developing a mitigation process to address community concerns.