OSOYOOS TIMES-August 19, 2009
By Laurena Weninger – Osoyoos Times
The Town of Osoyoos will allow septic waste from rural areas to be dumped at the Osoyoos Landfill for a little while longer.
At its Aug. 17 meeting, Osoyoos town council unanimously agreed to extend the deadline for closing the landfill to rural waste from the beginning of September to the end of March, 2010.
March is when the nearby Osoyoos Desert Centre opens for the season.
After that date, liquid waste from anywhere other than within town boundaries will not be accepted.
The extension is in response to a request from Regional District Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) chief administrative officer Bill Newell, who asked the Town to reconsider the cut-off date while the RDOS studied other options for liquid waste disposal in the South Okanagan.
Council received the request from the RDOS in July but postponed a decision pending more information about how long of an extension the RDOS was looking for.
At the Aug. 17 meeting, Osoyoos’s chief administrative office, Barry Romanko told council that the RDOS is looking at many options, including the possible use of the Osoyoos Wastewater Treatment Plant for the treatment of liquid waste from rural areas.
While council approved the six-monthdeadline extension, it also unanimously agreed that it was only a temporary measure to address the issue.
