(Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct some inaccurate data).
About 20 residents from the Rural Municipality of Moose Jaw who are opposed to the new landfill location have formed a committee with the goal of overturning the decision.
Gordon Knox and Burk Reiman farm in the RM and, after learning in December about the proposed “solid waste management facility” north of Moose Jaw, organized a special meeting with the RM council to learn more.
“The RM office was kind of quiet and stalling because the information leaked out way too prematurely,” said Reiman.
Afterward, the two men formed an ad hoc ratepayers’ committee and became its co-chairs.
Reiman — who farms southwest, north and northeast of the proposed location — explained that he was one of 29 people to receive a group text message from an anonymous source with inside knowledge. He believes that person likely works for an insurance agency and has access to farmers’ cell phone numbers.
Knox farms east of Highway 2 and is concerned about garbage blowing into his yard. He didn’t think the city could control that problem at the new venue since it would be in a wide-open spot facing strong winds.
“So, it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors to bring this land into development — and we’re not happy about it … ,” Knox said. “I think we can defeat (the project location), yes. This is … (not) a done deal.”
The Express will have a separate article with comments from city hall.
This is the third article in a series about this issue.
Purchase price
Based on conversations, Reiman believed that city hall allegedly plans to pay $6 million to the Truman Bailey family for 156.09 hectares (390.23 acres) of land. However, since the federal tax rate is 33 per cent, that leaves roughly $4 million, which means the three children of Bailey — who died in 2016 — could each receive just over $1 million if the sale goes through.
“The city is spending money like a drunken sailor on shore leave with a brand-new credit card,” he stated.
Reiman noted that Calgary-based contractor Scott Land & Lease Limited approached him about purchasing his land for $10,000 per acre — or 300 per cent over value — but refused to say for what purpose or who the buyer was; he declined. That same company then approached several other neighbours — including Knox’s aunt — with the same offer, but they also declined.
The active farmers didn’t sell because Ottawa’s tax rate would take 33 per cent of the cheque, while they would anger their neighbours and become a “scourge” in the RM, he added..
Blowing garbage
With the proposed landfill 1.6 kilometres (one mile) north of Moose Jaw, it’s likely that garbage will blow into Sunningdale and VLA, said Reiman. Residents are likely not concerned now because of inflation and food prices but could become worried if garbage or smoke drifted in from the dump.
There are also several ranches near the current landfill where cattle each the loose garbage, he continued. The ranchers allegedly struggle to convince city hall to reimburse them for medical bills since a veterinarian must remove the refuse from the animals’ stomachs and intestines.
Expanding the current site
The Ministry of Environment approved the current landfill’s expansion in 2012 and agreed to amend the operating permit if city hall installed a liner since an aquifer is below, Reiman said. Therefore, he thought the city should expand the current dump to the east where there is no farmland — or further away in a rural area.
“This (new) one might be much bigger and (the city) can still run two dumps at the same time and even more money comes in,” Reiman stated, noting the current landfill is a “huge cash cow” because rural communities deposit their garbage there.
Knox said he hasn’t heard a concrete reason why city hall isn’t expanding the current landfill and thinks it has “made some stuff up” about why that is.
Specifically, he pointed to city hall’s comments about not developing the landfill near the municipal airport — because of a five- to eight-kilometre buffer zone around there — nor near the power station because of a military “no-go” flyover zone.
“Where they want to put it, the military (already) flies over there two dozen times a day,” he continued, adding 15 Wing also regularly flies over the current dump.
Ratepayers’ concerns
The proposed venue will be less than a mile away from a water source that Reiman uses. He noted that that water course comes into his dugouts, down to Carol's Restaurant on the North Service Road, under the Trans Canada Highway and into the middle of Sunningdale, which eventually joins the Moose Jaw River.
Other concerns Reiman had included safety on Highway 2 and ballooning project costs.
Reiman accused city hall and city council of purposely keeping the public in the dark. The city should have taken the usual approach of holding public consultations, producing engineering reports and seeking approval before purchasing land, he said, even though a landowner could then ask four to five times as much per acre.
Instead, the city has decided to purchase the land first and deal with the fallout later.
“Now you’re like a bull with your head down, and you just plow through the China shop and deal with the bad publicity and make the deal for the land right now and figure out the details later,” Reiman said.
Due to this approach, he believes area farmers will launch lawsuits because their land prices will “go into the toilet.”
“It’s not a done deal,” he added.
