County Councillor Miciak promises “big fight” over sewage sludge project

A delegation attended Beaver County’s Committee of the Whole (CoW) meeting to speak out against the “Willow Plantation” project proposed by Beaver Municipal Solutions (BMS).

The proposal had not yet been announced by BMS, but an April 13 article in the Edmonton Journal stated the City of Edmonton is involved in a pilot project with BMS in which 2,300 dried tonnes of sewage sludge would be worked into 50 hectares of soil.

The willow trees would be grown in this soil and then cut once they were five to seven metres tall, made into wood chips and sent back to be used by the Clover Bar composter as a fibre component.

Landowners near the landfill are concerned about the nature of the project. Adjacent landowner Tim Ewert said the land to be used was a parcel he sold to BMS. It was land he believed would act as a buffer between his grain and cattle farm and the Beaver Regional Landfill.

BMS operates the landfill under the behest of the Beaver Regional Waste Management Services Commission (BRWMSC), composed of representatives of the five municipalities in Beaver County.

The representative for Beaver County is Reeve Bob Young, who is also the commission’s chair.

By Patricia Harcourt
Staff Reporter

For more see the May 7/13 issue of the Tofield Mercury