Hartland was always a bad choice for a landfill. It is perched in a high-rainfall area in the midst of some of the finest parkland in the Capital Regional District. More important, from an environmental point of view, contaminated rainwater (leachate) draining through the landfill, and downslope from Hartland, has the potential to carry a lethal load of dissolved toxins.
The Hartland facility is well-engineered with state-of-the-art liners, monitoring wells and other facilities to prevent leakage into the groundwater. However, given that there are sharp objects in the landfill material, it is possible that the liners will be punctured as compaction settles the waste pile. Further, Hartland is located in a tectonically active area and it is probable that seismic activity could also rupture the liners. Either scenario will allow toxic leachate to contaminate the Heal and Durrance drainages and ultimately Prospect Lake and Tod Inlet adjacent to Butchart Gardens.
Now CRD is planning to add sewage sludge to this toxic cocktail. Do we want to play Russian roulette with the residents of Prospect Lake and the Tod drainage area, let alone pristine attractions such as Gowlland Tod Provincial Park and Butchart Gardens?
There are other potential landfill locations in the province that are environmentally superior to Hartland. However, it will take a revolutionary reversal of the closed-box thinking currently on exhibit by our CRD politicians to change the present potentially disastrous direction.
R.H. McMillan
Victoria
