Safety comes first at the Foothills Regional Landfill so strong winds will shut down the facility starting next month. Effective Aug. 1, the landfill site will be closed to all users if winds exceed 70 km/hr. Joe Angevine, landfill manager for the M.
Safety comes first at the Foothills Regional Landfill so strong winds will shut down the facility starting next month.
Effective Aug. 1, the landfill site will be closed to all users if winds exceed 70 km/hr.
Joe Angevine, landfill manager for the M.D. of Foothills, says that the new rules will minimize danger to the public and employees of the site.
“You get big commercial trucks backing up beside residential customers and you never know what kind of debris might get tossed around in the wind,” said Angevine. “On bad days I've seen plywood flying across the landfill. It gets pretty sketchy.”
According to Angevine, winds tend to reach this speeds most often in the fall or spring, when they can occur an average of once per week, in addition to during winter Chinooks.
Hailing from the City of Lethbridge, where the policy at the landfill is to close if winds exceed 60 km/hr, Angevine proposed a similar rule for the Foothills.
Though the reasoning in Lethbridge was primarily for a littering issue, with debris landing in neighbouring fields, Angevine decided there was an arguable safety issue to consider as well.
The M.D. has delivered notices to all landfill account holders announcing the new policy, which will close the gates of the site to all loads – residential, municipal, and commercial.
“It will be shut down to everyone,” said Angevine. “I know that some people might be upset by that on the first day and dump their load in the ditch, but I'd rather deal with that issue than have someone get a piece of wood in the head.”
The Town of Okotoks is not concerned about the closure for its regularly-scheduled garbage pick-up service.
“We have the capacity based on our population to collect for day one and start day two before we need to go to the landfill,” said Resource Recovery Manager Paul Lyons. “Typically it's a one-day thing, but if for any reason we reach capacity the landfill will still accommodate our truck.”
Angevine says that the people most affected by the policy will be the general public, specifically those who only take out occasional loads and may not be aware of the rule.
If high winds close the landfill gates, sandwich boards will be placed on the roads to warn customers of a closure.
Should the winds approach 70 km/hr, Foothills residents are urged to check the M.D. website prior to going out to the landfill.
“We will always be updating the website before we shut the gate,” said Angevine. “There will never be a sudden closure without any warning.”
Notice of closures and details can be found at www.mdfoothills.com
