When Mother Nature gets angry and the wind begins to howl, the Osoyoos landfill will shut down operations in the future.
Jim Dinwoodie, the town’s director of operational services, informed Town of Osoyoos council on Tuesday that the town does not have a policy outlining procedures at the sanitary landfill when severe weather events occur in the area.
“A severe weather event, as defined by Environment Canada, is when wind speeds exceed 64 km/hr,” said Dinwoodie. “When these conditions are present at the landfill, there is a dramatic increase in the amount of flying debris, resulting in elevated concerns over the safety of the public and staff.”
The Regional District of Okanagan — Similkameen (RDOS) is currently investigating creating a similar protocol for implementation at their various landfill facilities throughout the Okanagan Valley, he said.
By creating this new Operational Services policy, the Town of Osoyoos would be formalizing practices that have already been in place for some time, he said.
“This will … hopefully result in a safer work environment at this facility,” he said.
The new proposed severe weather event policy will follow the guidelines detailed by Environment Canada, he said.
“When these conditions are present at the landfill, there is a dramatic increase in the amount of flying debris resulting in elevated concerns over the safety of the public and staff,” he said. “If these conditions are present at the town landfill, staff will immediately suspend processing all activities from residential sources and close the facility to non-commercial traffic.
“If Environment Canada resends their severe weather advisory for the area and wind speeds drop below 64 km/hr, staff will then resume processing material from residential sources.”
If staff observe an increase in wind speed which is localized to the immediate area, and no Environment Canada severe weather warning has been issued, they will immediately contact him and he will decide to suspend the processing of residentially sourced material until weather conditions improve, he said.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
