Municipal Affairs
July 23, 2009Eleven Dump Sites to Close as a Result
of $345,400 Government Investment
The Provincial Government will invest $345,400 to support the waste
site consolidation efforts in the South West Avalon sub-region of the
Greater Avalon.
"This effort will facilitate the closure of 11 existing dump sites,
many of which
used open burning as a means to handle the
garbage," said the Honourable Dianne Whalen, Minister of Municipal
Affairs. "Consolidation efforts will include the upgrade of waste sites
at St. Joseph�s and Placentia to enable them to accept and manage waste
from all communities in the area."
The St. Joseph�s and Placentia sites will be designated as interim
waste disposal sites and be managed landfills with regular cover of
waste. Communities will share collection services to bring waste to the
redeveloped sites. This initiative will include communities along the
Cape Shore from Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights to St. Bride�s and
communities in St. Mary�s Bay from Point Lance to Colinet to St.
Vincent's-St. Stephen's-Peter's River.
"The efforts of the members of the Southwest Avalon Regional Waste
Management Committee and the communities that they represent need to be
commended as they embrace the Provincial Waste Management Strategy by
taking this major step forward," said Ken Kelly, Chair of the Greater
Avalon Regional Waste Management Committee. "By consolidating now they
will be preparing for future activities that will help reach the
diversion targets established for the region."
"The closure of 11 sites down to two will give us an opportunity to
better educate ourselves to cut back on waste and help stabilize costs
when we start transporting waste to Robin Hood Bay in 2010," said Kevin
Power, Chair of the Southwest Avalon Waste Management Committee.
The closure of the 11 waste sites in the South West Region increases
the total number of municipal waste sites closed province-wide as a
result of this strategy to 54.
"This initiative is a first step to having these communities
co-operate with each other in the sharing of waste management services,"
said Minister Whalen. "The final phase will be to have these two
remaining sites close and the transporting of waste to the regional
facility at Robin Hood Bay."
The $200 million Provincial Solid Waste Management Strategy will
introduce three full-service regional waste management facilities on the
Avalon, Central and Western areas of the island portion of the province,
and programs for the zones in Labrador to meet the provincial waste
management goals. The provincial strategy will aim to reduce the amount
of waste going into landfills in the province by 50 per cent through the
development of new waste diversion programs and reduce the number of
waste sites in the province by at least 80 per cent. The Greater Avalon
Regional Site is expected to be operational by 2010, the Central site by
2011, and the Western Regional site no later than 2016. It is expected
that full implementation of the strategy will occur by 2020.
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