Sept. 30, 2020 Electronic Town Hall Q&A
What amount of methane is expected from the composting site?
Properly operated composting sites do not generate methane. Composting uses oxygen to speed up the decomposition process. Composting does not allow for the creation of methane by aerating the materials being composted.
Methane is created naturally when organic matter is stored in water without access to oxygen. This happens in landfills where food waste is buried underground and no oxygen is available. There are also specially designed digesters that can create methane. Digesters trap the methane, allowing it to be used like natural gas for heating or electrical production.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas. Landfills are a major source of methane in Canada. The Campbell Mountain Landfill is estimated to generate more than 1,000 tonnes of methane each year. This makes it one of the largest point sources of methane in the RDOS. The development of a food waste composting site at the Campbell Mountain Landfill will significantly reduce methane emissions in the RDOS by removing food waste from the landfill and composting it.
What is the amount of material being currently being processed at the City of Penticton Wastewater Solids Composting facility? What are the expected annual amounts of materials to be composted at the facility?
Table 3-5 explains the estimated current and future feedstocks that are available for the composting sites. The ‘Biosolids’ estimate below is ‘dry tonnes’ of wastewater treatment solids. This is the estimated weight of solids without water. The ‘wet tonnes’, meaning the solids mixed with water brought to the compost site, is estimated at ~8000 tonnes. Wet tonnes refers to the weight at the scale when the solids are still wet.
Is there a provincial or local requirement to have an odour or discharge permit?
Composting sites in BC are regulated under the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation (OMRR) and BC does not require an additional odour or discharge permit. OMRR requires a compost site have an odour management plan to ensure nuisances are minimized. The RDOS does not issue Air Discharge permits.
