Two Alberta companies have filed proposals to build secure landfills near Dawson Creek, betting on growing volumes of drilling waste from the Montney and Horn River gas plays.
"We are in the heart of the new up-and-coming Montney gas play in B.C.," Todd Sauve, development manager for landfill services with Calgary-based CCS Corp., said recently.
"It's going to be a fairly significant play in B.C., and we wanted to be there for the customers."
Resource companies have spent millions in recent years lining up drilling rights for Montney and Horn River shale gas plays in northeastern B.C.
Shale gas is natural gas found in shale formations, which have become more attractive to producers in recent years as improved technology helped unlock the reserves.
Secure landfills are fenced, lined facilities designed to accept wastes, such as contaminated soil, that are banned from municipal landfills.
CCS has filed a proposal to build a 65-hectare landfill 15 kilometres west of Dawson Creek, a hub for Calgary-based EnCana Corp. and other producers.
CCS's facility would have an expected life span of 25 to 40 years, with the first stage of the project estimated to cost $2-million.
Another Calgary company, Secure Energy Services, has filed a proposal for a 34-hectare, $7-million landfill five kilometres south of Tupper, just 1.5 kilometres west of the Alberta-B.C. boundary.
That project, if approved, would be the first in B.C. for Secure Energy and is being pursued as a result of customer demand, said Corey Higham, the company's business development manager.
"We've been approached by a number of producers in B.C." Higham said. "The customers are interested in another option and we are trying to provide it to them."
CCS currently operates two secure landfills in B.C. Some operators also haul waste to approved facilities in Alberta.
Area residents have already voiced concerns about Secure Energy's proposal.
The site for the facility is near the crest of a hill and slopes northward to Swan Lake, about five kilometres away.
In submissions to the Environmental Assessment Office, residents have raised concerns about the landfill's potential impact on water, air quality and property values.
The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission highlighted the issue of proper garbage disposal earlier this year when it sent out a bulletin to oil and gas operators after being alerted that contaminated truck liners were being dumped in municipal landfills.
(Globe and Mail)
