Town required to spend $315,000 removing hazardous material from solar farm

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

During the construction of the Solar Farm on land leased from the Town of Strathmore to Capital Power, materials from a former building on the site were discovered and deemed hazardous, requiring special disposal. 

According to administration, the total cost to the Town following the disposal of the material amounted to $315,000. 

The material in question was from a former building that was deemed to have been buried and partially burned in or around 2013 and contained vermiculite. 

Capital Power offered to only charge the Town for the disposal of the hazardous materials and not for the disposal of normal materials. This amounted to an expenditure of just over $56,000 from Capital Power.

The Town’s finance department confirmed the cost will be covered through accumulated surplus for 2021.

Mayor Pat Fule’s immediate question to administration regarding the removal regarded whether the Town was responsible for burying the hazardous material, to which administration could not confirm the Town to be at fault.

Based on the Town’s agreement with Capital Power, however, the responsibility was deemed to be on the Town to cover the costs of its disposal.

Councilor Melissa Langmaid said vermiculite was a commonly used insulation in homes until the late 1980’s. Past 1990, the material was no longer used in home construction, though can still be found in some industrial applications.

Adminstration also confirmed to council it was comfortable withdrawing the $315,000 to cover the expense from accumulated surplus, though cautioned the council regarding other large, unexpected expenditures.

According to the administrative report, the Town met with Capital Power, which is leasing the land where the solar farm is located, on June 24 of this year, following a notification that potentially hazardous materials were found on the project site.

The initial estimate the Town was provided with suggested the 725 Tonnes of material would cost just over $150,000 to remove. This estimate was increased to just over $257,000 once the landfill where it would be disposed of, saw the material.

The final cost was determined after factoring in an additional 936 Tonnes of materials being hauled off site, trucking hours and a full breakdown of disposal tickets.

The solar farm under construction, which began earlier this year, is currently on track to be operational in early 2022.

Town Council accepted administration’s report of the expenditure as information during the Dec. 1, 2021 meeting.