Tulita Solid Waste Facilities Report
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Tulita Solid Waste Facilities Report Issued for Use Prepared for: Hamlet of Tulita Prepared by: Stantec Consulting Ltd. 4910 – 53rd Street Yellowknife, NT X1A 2P4 Project Number: 144930036 December 23, 2016 Revision Date Notes 0 2016 Dec 23 Submitted to SLWB for approval Sign-off Sheet This document entitled Tulita Solid Waste Facilities Report was prepared by Stantec Consulting Ltd. (“Stantec”) for the account of Hamlet of Tulita (the “Client”). The material in it reflects Stantec’s professional judgment in light of the scope, schedule and other limitations stated in the document and in the contract between Stantec and the Client. The opinions in the document are based on conditions and information existing at the time the document was published and do not take into account any subsequent changes. In preparing the document, Stantec did not verify information supplied to it by others. Any use which a third party makes of this document is the responsibility of such third party. Prepared by (signature) Jamie Davignon, EIT Reviewed by (signature) Walter Orr, P.Eng Approved by (signature) Erica Bonhomme, P.Geo Sign-off Sheet Table of Contents 1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 SETTING ............................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 GEOTECHNICAL INFORMATION ...................................................................................... 1 2.0 TULITA POPULATION PROJECTION ................................................................................ 1 3.0 SOLID WASTE FACILITY CAPACITY ................................................................................ 1 3.1 SOLID WASTE FACILITY DESCRIPTION .............................................................................. 1 3.2 PROJECTED LIFESPAN OF CURRENT SWF ........................................................................ 1 3.3 FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY OF SWF ..................................................................................... 1 4.0 SEWAGE LAGOON CAPACITY ...................................................................................... 3 4.1 SEWAGE LAGOON DESCRIPTION .................................................................................... 3 4.2 PROJECTED CAPACITY OF SEWAGE LAGOON ............................................................. 3 4.3 FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY OF SEWAGE LAGOON ........................................................... 4 4.3.1 Sewage Flows and Future Requirements .................................................... 4 4.3.2 Sludge Accumulation and Future Requirements ....................................... 4 5.0 NEW SOLID WASTE FACILITY ACTION PLAN ................................................................. 5 5.1 TIMELINES FOR PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION ......................................... 5 5.2 PLANNING .......................................................................................................................... 5 5.3 DESIGN ............................................................................................................................... 6 5.4 PERMITTING / REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS .................................................................. 6 5.5 SITE DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................................... 6 5.6 CAPACITY AND AREA REQUIREMENTS ........................................................................... 9 5.7 SITING CRITERIA ................................................................................................................. 9 5.8 EARTH MANAGEMENT .................................................................................................... 11 5.9 CLIMATE CHANGE .......................................................................................................... 11 6.0 TIMELINES ..................................................................................................................... 13 7.0 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................7.1 i TULITA SOLID WASTE FACILITIES REPORT Introduction December 23, 2016 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND Water License S16L3-001 Part E, Item 2 requires that the Hamlet submit a Waste Disposal Facilities Report. The Waste Disposal Facilities Report is to determine the functional capacity and projected lifespan of the current Waste Disposal Facilities, and contain an action plan for the establishment of new Facilities, that includes timelines for planning, design and construction and identifies the triggers that will prompt the planning and construction of the new Facilities. This document fulfills the requirements of the Waste Disposal Facilities Report for the Hamlet. 1.2 SETTING The Hamlet of Tulita (Hamlet) is located in the Sahtu region of the Northwest Territories at the confluence of the Great Bear and Mackenzie Rivers (64º54’N, 125º34’W). The closest Environmental Canada meteorological station (Station 2202800) is in Norman Wells, approximately 75 km northwest of Tulita (Government of Canada, 2016). Based on the meteorological data, the average precipitation in the area is 294.4 mm including 171.7 mm of rain and 161.5 cm of snow. The average temperature for January is -26.1ºC and July is 17.1ºC (Government of Canada, 2016). In 2015, the population of the Hamlet of Tulita was estimated at 516 residents representing less than two percent of the population of the Northwest Territories. The population growth of the Hamlet was estimated at 0.2% for the past 11 years (Government of the Northwest Territories, 2015). The Hamlet operates two waste disposal facilities: • Solid Waste Facility (SWF) • Sewage Lagoon The SWF is located approximately 2.2 km northeast of the community and the Sewage Lagoon is located within Taylor Lake, approximately 500 m north of the SWF (Figure 1). 1.3 GEOTECHNICAL INFORMATION Tulita is located within the Norman Range Low Subarctic Ecoregion. The geology of this ecoregion consists of dolomite and limestone bedrock overlain by fine to medium textured tills. Brunisolic and Luvisolic soils are most common in the Tulita area. Vegetation is dominated by trembling aspen, paper birch and spruce (white and black). Moist areas have dwarf black spruce, Labrador tea, ericaceous shrubs, and mosses (Ecological Stratification Working Group Solid Waste Facilities Report 1 TULITA SOLID WASTE FACILITIES REPORT Introduction December 23, 2016 1995). The ground condition at the Solid Waste Facility (SWF) and Sewage Lagoon location is extensive discontinuous permafrost. In the first 10 to 20 meters below the ground surface, 50 to 90% of the ground contains a volume of approximately 15% ice (Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), 2016). Solid Waste Facilities Report 2 TULITA SOLID WASTE FACILITIES REPORT Introduction December 23, 2016 Figure 1: Location of Waste Disposal Facilities Hamlet of Tulita Solid Waste Facilities Report 1 TULITA SOLID WASTE FACILITIES REPORT Tulita Population Projection December 23, 2016 2.0 TULITA POPULATION PROJECTION Historical and predicted population values were obtained from the NWT Bureau of Statistics. In 2015, the population of the Hamlet of Tulita was estimated at 516 residents representing less than two percent of the population of the Northwest Territories (GNWT, 2016). The population growth of the Hamlet was estimated at 0.2 % for the past 11 years. Any upgrades to the solid waste management system are to be designed for a 40-year planning horizon. Population projections were available up to 2031, and values were extrapolated from this data and used to estimate the population up to 2054, as illustrated in Figure 2. Tulita Population 700 y = 1.96x - 3389 600 R² = 0.9772 500 400 Population History 300 Population Population Projection 200 Linear (Population Projection) 100 0 2001 2011 2021 2031 2041 2051 Year Figure 1 Population History and Projections Though the population of Tulita has been increasing, it is currently lower than projected, such that the GNWT Bureau of Statistics’ projection of 637 in 2054 may overestimate the population growth. Solid Waste Facilities Report 1 TULITA SOLID WASTE FACILITIES REPORT Solid Waste Facility Capacity December 23, 2016 3.0 SOLID WASTE FACILITY CAPACITY 3.1 SOLID WASTE FACILITY DESCRIPTION The Hamlet’s SWF is located approximately 2 km northeast of the community center. The SWF was commissioned in 1983 and has been in use since that time. The SWF accepts hazardous waste, active and inactive household domestic waste, vehicles and and bulky wastes (i.e., vehicles, fuel tanks, other waste metal) (Figure 3). Except for a recycling program for aluminum beverage containers, the Hamlet of Tulita does not employ any waste diversion. The SWF does not have an engineered containment system, except for a portion of the Hazardous Waste Area. Drainage ditches are located along the east and west sides of the access road to the SWF. In addition, site perimeter ditching is present, draining towards the south. The SWF was designed as a modified landfill operated based the cell disposal method, with a new cell being added each year (Dillon Consulting Limited, 2005). In this method, wastes are deposited into cells which are excavated during the summer months. The