Fort St. John area landfill acquired by Alberta energy company

The landfill site includes a large building licenced to receive up to 4.5 million tons of contaminated waste. Petrowest plans to conduct a series of site improvements required for operations, which are expected to begin two months after the acquisition is finalized.

Petrowest's President and CEO Rick Quigley says the location of the landfill is beneficial to his company.

"We will be able to use existing equipment and skills at the landfill and we expect to be able to generate additional construction and transportation revenue in the loading and hauling of material to the site," he says, adding, "The landfill facility will cut down hauling distances and reduce heavy truck traffic on roads in the region."

An agreement has already been negotiated with an unidentified major Canadian oil and gas company operating in the region, so the landfill will receive their contaminated soil for the next five years. The deal includes an initial payment of $5 million to Peejay Environmental, with Petrowest making subsequent earnout payments on the first 625,000 tons of waste accepted at the landfill. The Doig River is also set to benefit, as an agreement has been made with the First Nation to include its members in the economic opportunities the landfill will create.

"The support of the Doig River First Nation is very important to Petrowest," says Quiglet, "as the site is situated on their traditional lands and we certainly respect that and will work together to clean up those lands in a timely manner."

The acquisition is expected to close by the end of July.