New waste treatment facility opens near Taylor

The waste is unloaded at one of four stations, and then separated to remove solids, and then recover any residual oil. Water gets pumped down a deep well, solids will get treated and then go to a landfill, and the oil gets taken to a terminal pipeline, where it gets reused.

Tervita has been operating with a temporary station since the beginning of the year, and has been fully operating since the end of May. Lance Kile, who manages Tervita facilities in the northeast, says the hope is to reduce some of the traffic in the area, as well as reduce transportation costs. There are a lot of trucks using the South Taylor Hill going to and from production near Dawson Creek and the Montney area.

"A lot of the waste right now is going north through Taylor and Fort St. John," he explains. "With this facility being able to be there, we'll be able to cut a lot of those transportation costs, as well as reduce the traffic on the road."

In addition, the new facility uses state-of-the-art technology. Nearby neighbours should be happy, as the building uses low-impact lighting, is spread out so it minimizes the need for trucks' backing up alarms, and has its own acceleration and deceleration lanes off the highway. It also has a vapour recovery system, which captures any odour that come off the tanks and the equipment used for processing the waste and waters, which then gets burned away by an incinerator with no visible flames or smoke. The building also uses neutral colours to blend in better with its surroundings and minimize the visual impact, and as some of the nearby bush had to be cut down, the company will be planting trees in front of the site.

"It's taken basically all the technology we've used over the years, and we've compiled it into this one site," says Kile.

As some components are still in commission, around 25 trucks are being processed a day, compared to the 35 or so it will be able to manage once it's fully running. Currently there are 15 local workers on site, from Dawson Creek, Taylor and Fort St. John.