B.C. considering shipping tons of trash through Sumas

ZOE FRALEY - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

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SUMAS - Sumas could become a transfer point for up to 450,000 tons of Canadian trash per year after the scheduled closure of British Columbia's Cache Creek Landfill in July 2010.

Metro Vancouver officials want to ship up to 600,000 tons of garbage per year into the U.S. for up to five years after Cache Creek closes. Officials are now considering two companies for the disposal contract, Rabanco Companies and Waste Management.

If Metro Vancouver chooses to contract with Rabanco, then Sumas could see 450,000 tons of garbage every year that would be shipped down in containers. Those containers would be transferred from trucks to trains at Rabanco's Sumas facility. The remaining 150,000 tons of trash would be transferred in Surrey, with all the garbage ending up at Roosevelt Regional Landfill in southern Washington.

The Waste Management proposal would transfer 600,000 tons of trash from trucks to trains on Annacis Island in British Columbia, taking it to either the Greater Wenatchee Landfill or Oregon's Columbia Ridge Landfill.

Sumas officials have expressed concerns about Rabanco's proposal to Metro Vancouver officials, but the Canadians are in control of the decision, which is expected to be made in September.

Not surprising in an issue involving garbage, one of the main concerns for Sumas residents is smell. The border town is already a stopping point for garbage, said Sumas Mayor Bob Bromley, about 12 containers per day compared to about 45 if Rabanco's proposal is chosen.

"It's not bad if you're in a big area with no residents around, but people live near there," Bromley said. "On a hot day with the wind blowing a bit, even out on the highway you can smell it."

Bromley hopes the smell won't be as much of an issue because the B.C. garbage would be shipped in sealed steel containers; the trash that currently is transported through town is covered only by a tarp. The new trash transfers likely would lead to a small increase in traffic and slight improvements in the local economy, but Bromley didn't expect either to be dramatic.

Cynthia Moe lives uphill from Rabanco's Sumas facility, and she's concerned the smell is only going to get worse for those in the 30 to 50 homes near the facility, along with the rat problem that has come with the trash containers.

She's also worried about the questions she couldn't get answers to at the Monday, June 8, Sumas meeting on the garbage proposals: Who would be responsible if there were a spill? She said the facility is in a lowland area that often floods, but what would happen if nearby wells were contaminated?

Mostly she's upset because she feels helpless to affect what will happen in her town.

"We're a low-density area. My gosh, if this were King County or the city of Bellingham, would this even have a chance?" she said. "It's frustrating because you really feel you don't have a voice. There's absolutely no way you feel you're going to be heard."