Transfer Stations Become a Liability Concern

Changes to what you can take to a transfer station are coming in July and closing the facilities is a looming option.

The county engineer told Cumberland Council last night that the province is imposing new rules in July. Effective July first, no treated lumber can be disposed at a transfer station. It will have to be trucked directly to the landfill site in Little Forks, along with the tipping fee.

The province has determined that treated lumber is an environmental hazard.

Cumberland’s transfer stations have accepted construction and demolition debris at no charge for years. However, council is concerned that identifying what is treated can be an issue in a truck full of old debris.

The province is also demanding three monitoring wells be drilled at the transfer stations, to allow regular groundwater tests. Given the sites are located on or near former dumps, who knows what might already be in the groundwater.

The issue seems to be a recipe for a future liability, a possibly expensive liability. One councillor suggested immediate closure of the sites to avoid the potential of future litigation.

Speaking on Six Rivers Radio’s Morning Talk, Mayor Murray Scott said part of the reason the municipality sold the county landfill site to a private company was the concern for future liability, a concern that has now been transferred to the transfer stations.

The photo shows the Pugwash transfer station after a fire forced a clean-up. The question remains, what is underneath?

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