By James Peters

Turtle Valley residents mount opposition to Kamloops biosolids plan

Mar 28, 2019 | 12:27 PM

CHASE, B.C. — Turtle Valley residents are organizing to express their opposition to having City of Kamloops biosolids transported to their pristine home.

The city’s contractor, Arrow Transportation, says it plans to compost thousands of tonnes of biosolids at the Turtle Valley Bison Ranch, after a hitch in a plan to truck the material to Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band land.

The land at the ranch had previously been logged, and spreading biosolids is part of a plan to rejuvenate the soil.

Connie Seaward of Turtle Valley says runoff in the valley is unpredictable, and what might leech from the biosolids could cause long term damage.

“Our main concern is for the wildlife in Turtle Valley,” said Seaward. “We live in a beautiful valley. We’re home to endangered species painted turtles, we have numerous water fowl, aquatic life, crayfish. We have beautiful lakes in the valley and the creeks and the lakes from this end of the valley [near Turtle Valley Bison Ranch] eventually flow into Shuswap Lake.”

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Arrow has a contract to compost 12,500 tonnes of City of Kamloops-produced biosolids annually, as well as compost an existing 23,000-tonne stockpile.

The initial plan had that composting work taking place at Talking Rock Golf Course on Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band land, but Arrow says a delay in federal approvals means the material will be taken to the Turtle Valley until September 15.

Seaward says community members just learned about the bison ranch plan within the past week, and have begun researching the impacts of composting biosolids.

“There is proof and studies done that the chemicals that are contained in biosolids [can’t be] eliminated out of it. [Arrow’s] defence for that is that they’re in small amounts. That still doesn’t make it right; they are there. And when you’re hauling it in to the tune of 700 B-trains, a small amount becomes a large amount.”

Arrow Vice-President Tim Bell says the company is serious about engaging the community, but Seaward says a community meeting last week didn’t go far toward calming community concerns.

“I think there were probably about 50 people at that meeting. They came into the meeting neutral and when we left, I’d say there were probably about 10 or 15 people who were either neutral or not against [the plan]. That’s an overwhelming amount of people who are against it,” said Seaward.

Bell says Arrow has done its due diligence and is confident the composting project will provide a net benefit to the valley.

“The majority of projects we look at, we don’t pursue because they don’t fit for whatever reason,” said Bell. “This is a very, very good project and the end result will be good for the land owners and the members of that community.”

But Seaward notes opposition to the plan is only beginning to ramp up, with another community meeting planned for next week.

“We have quite a group behind us here that wants it stopped before it was started. Same as in Barriere, same is in the Lower Nicola Valley – we’re not the only valley that doesn’t want human waste dumped in our pristine place where we live.”