(Aired on January 8, 2010)
The communities of Ashcroft and Cache Creek are happy this week. They have an extension to their landfill that could keep the operation open until 2037. All well and good, but of course they need customers, and that's a bit of a problem, considering their major client, in fact their only client, is making plans to dispose of their garbage elsewhere. And as much as I like having jobs in our area, surely we're to the point in our development that we should be looking at alternate technology to disposing of garbage in a landfill. Incinerators are a good option if handled properly. Technology is available that would create virtually no toxins from incineration. It might cost more, but maybe that would start to get the message out to "go green" and try to make some positive changes.
On another environmental topic, I wonder how long it will take before Kamloops gains back its reputation of being a big industrial town and start driving away business that could come here. I remember years ago when the Cancer Clinic was being talked about, some doctors had a major say in driving the project to the Okanagan, because they said they didn't want to come to Kamloops because of its reputation as some sort of big industrial centre. And at that time, we only had the pulp mill. Now we're going to have a gasification plant that burns creosote ties, the mere mention of which scares me half to death, and possibly some sort of biofuels plant on the Reserve. I wouldn't imagine it would take long to get that bad reputation back at this rate. Seems a shame when we've spent so much promoting the great lifestyle here in Kamloops. Doesn't take much to turn that image 180 degrees in the opposite direction.
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I've long believed that one day - don't laugh - we'll be launching our garbage at the sun. It will come down to finding a cheap way to launch crap into space. Way too expensive in the present. It already seems just ridiculous that our (humanity's) solution for what do with our waste is bury it underground. Out of sight, out of mind.
ReplyDeleteAs for the gasifier, I place significant stock in the findings of both the MOE and the IHA, but it still seems like the middle of a populated area is not the best place for it.