Town to mark old landfill wells with reflective tape for safety

EAGLE STAFF

Special wells around the old dump southeast of town will become more visible in the spring, councillors learned last week.

Staff will put reflective tape on all the leachate collection wells inside and outside the landfill that the town closed over the past few years, public works superintendent Bob Bors said during the Jan. 5 council meeting.

Making them more visible and less prone to getting hit by vehicles was among suggestions from provincial Environment staff made after a routine inspection, Bors explained. The wells help the town and authorities measure any flow of groundwater contaminated by garbage.

The wells have only “a painted red post” with nothing reflective or a barrier to protect them, he said. Staff will put reflective tape on them in the spring, when the tape should adhere better, he said.

“The precipitation that falls onto a landfill, along with any disposed liquid waste, results in the creation of leachate which contains water-soluble contaminants from the waste,” a provincial Environment Department document notes. Leachate can contain “dissolved metals, salts and other contaminants of concern” that can contaminate “groundwater and present risks to human health and the environment.

“Depending on the site geology and hydrogeology, the leachate can migrate off site and impact aquifers and/or surface water,” the document notes.

Also, public works staff have updated plans for the new demolition pit, which the town still doesn’t have “permission to operate,” Bors said.

Environment officials also want a final report on liquid taken from the landfill before it was decommissioned.

His staff also moved recycling bins at the transfer station away from power lines, “at the request of SaskPower,” before the snow arrived, Bors noted.