City Votes in Favour of Purchasing Owl Road Landfill

Owl Road landfill will soon be City property.

Kamloops City Council voted in favour of borrowing the $10 million needed to buy the landfill, which will be converted into a resource recovery centre to store construction and demolition waste.

The City hopes the centre will reduce the amount of waste that is usually sent to the Mission Flats landfill. Acquiring the location puts the City one step closer to their goal of reducing solid waste by 0.3 tonnes per capita.

The Owl Road landfill has long been a point of contention for many. Owner Dan Ambrosi was previously convicted under the Environmental Management Act after failing to store demolition material properly and not submitting an annual report on time.

The landfill site was also in the news back in 2007, when a major fire broke out, costing the city tens of thousands of dollars in resources, costs which Ambrosi appealed and eventually did not have to pay.

Mayor Milobar says purchasing the landfill will alleviate issues the site has had in the past.

“I think the fact that we have the ability to start to control what’s been a thorn in a lot of people’s sides for quite some time is nice,” said Milobar.

Tipping fees will be used to pay down the loan. Milobar added, the amount of tipping fees charged at the site will be significantly higher because of the nature of the materials that will be dumped, which will help pay down the loan faster.