What happens in Northumberland County after its final landfill reaches capacity was explained by Manager of Environmental and Technical Services Adam McCue at the February meeting of county council's Public Works Committee.
That should happen around 2030, McCue estimates, beginning his presentation with a brief history of the county's involvement with landfills.
This story began when the county became responsible for waste management in 1991. There were nine active landfills at the time but, since the Seymour landfill closed in 2013, only the Brighton one remains open.
Work began to remediate and expand the site in 2015, which would increase its overall capacity by about 500,000 cubic metres. This is also a result of the county's growing recycling efforts and the advent of commercial transport stations that accept commercial waste.
Planning ahead for when capacity is reached, McCue set out three options – expand an existing site, developing a new site, or exporting local waste to a landfill or alternative disposal site outside the county.
The process of deciding will be an individual environmental assessment, a process which requires a series of environmental studies on potential impacts on such things as surface water, ground water, air quality, land use and heritage.
And that's after the first step, preparing terms of reference, which adds about a year to the project – which, all in all, should take about five years and numerous public engagements.
Then, once a preferred solution emerges, another year or two is required for detailed designs and approvals.
“This year, we will be putting out an RFP to engage an engineering firm to carry out the environmental assessment,” McCue said.