Since the costs associated with a landfill site do not end once the facility has reached capacity, South Glengarry will have to set up financial liability reserves to cover closure and post-closure expenses for its two sites.
Yannick Marcerou and Serena Cheung from the consulting firm of WSP provided township council at its most recent meeting information on the financial liabilities connected to the Beaver Brook Road and the North Lancaster landfills.
The North Lancaster landfill site will be the first to meet its capacity, with an expected closure in 2031 costing $850,000 to close and a post-closure cost of $45,000 per year for 25 years. The liability totals $3,067,018. Inflation rates could affect the amounts for post-closure.
The Beaver Brook Road site is expected to close in 2041 with a closure cost of $968,000 and a yearly maintenance cost of $40,000 for 25 years. Its liability is valued at $4,000,000.
In most cases, the liability is factored over 25 years, as recommended by the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP).
However, this time frame can extend beyond the 25-year mark. Such is the case for the Summerstown landfill which shut down in 1987 but remains a liability, costing the township $5,000 to $12,000 per year, according to Sarah McDonald, General Manager of Infrastructure Services with South Glengarry.
“The duration that a closed landfill needs to be monitored is dependent on the environmental impact of the landfill, the ongoing monitoring results, and the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks. I believe consultants use the 25-years for their calculations based on provincial guidance, but, as WSP noted, it is difficult to have all ongoing monitoring requirements removed from closed sites by the MECP,” said McDonald.
The monitoring period from 2021 to 2026 will be reviewed by MECP in March 2027, when the post closure responsibilities might be ended.
In Ontario, a new accounting standard was put into practice in 2022. The Asset Retirement Obligations (ARO) means municipalities must report and account for landfill retirement obligations of closure and post-closure expenses. When a landfill reaches capacity and is closed, a closure plan is created, waste is shaped in a series of layers and compacted, the final cover is constructed, and the site is cleaned up. Post-closure maintenance entails site upkeep such as ensuring fences around the area are secure. It also includes environmental monitoring and gas extraction wells that collect gases generated by waste decomposition, as well as inspecting the landfill caps — clay layers over the waste to minimize water access.
The implementation of the new ARO has shown jumps in landfill financial liabilities for other municipalities. Some municipalities are closing their landfills as they approach capacity, staging the final cover and doing some of the work by municipal staff instead of an external contractor. These efforts can assist in balancing the closure costs.
