Wood waste landfill proposal withdrawn

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - When Jeff Levine purchased the155 acre property 14445 Sarah Point Road in Bliss Landing, he planned to use a tiny portion of it for a business venture. Ministry of the Environment staff helped him develop the proposal. They told him that the ideal sit for a wood waste landfill was land that had previously been clearcut or was a forest industry site. Levine had a four acre parcel that fit both categories. It had been clearcut three years ago. A sawmill had once stood there. In addition, the site was close to the ocean which would make it easy to barge wood waste in. Ministry staff said he needed to submit the name of a proposed waste wood site, so they could see how his operation would work. So he used the old Interfor mill site in Squamish as a model.

He does not have a contract with them. In fact, Mr Levine does not have a contract with any wood waste site anywhere. If his proposal had been approved by the Ministry of the Environment, he had planned to seek customers from old mill sites.

In wake of the resulting public protest, he has aborted the idea. As Mr Levine told Cortes Currents last night, “I have to live in this community.”

When he withdrew his proposal, last night, Levine wrote “It is unfortunate that false information was intentionally distributed stating that the wood material was toxic waste. This is simply not true. This was an application for disposal of non-hazardous wood material, in accordance with Provincial guidelines and by Qualified Environmental Professionals.”

“The constructive feedback and ideas of the local community are appreciated. Although all Provincial requirements for this type of facility have been met, it is the concerns of the local community that has prompted the decision to withdraw the application with the Ministry of Environment, effective immediately.”

Photo credit: A sawmill by r berndt via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)