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Fort Simpson’s landfill underwent major repairs after wildfire damage this year to waste and equipment storage areas. Now, the dump is reopening with winter operating hours.
Wildfires that triggered a community evacuation in June destroyed equipment stored at the landfill.
The village was waiting for its insurer to review an itemized list before determining which losses would be covered, village senior administrative officer Andre Larabie said at a November 9 council meeting.
At the meeting, operations manager Mitch Gast updated council on changes at the landfill. He said both of the community’s household waste cells caught fire and are being capped, while another section that burned underground will need to remain unused for two years.
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A new household waste cell was created and could provide close to 10 years of capacity, Gast said. The village has also created another cell for emergency use.
He said large earthmoving work was not originally expected for another eight to 10 years, but the wildfires forced the village to do it sooner.
The site is still handling waste collected during and after the evacuation. Gast showed council a temporary storage area holding household garbage in a pile about four feet high. He said that waste will be loaded into trucks and moved to the main landfill, allowing the village to clean up the area and reclaim its sand pit.
The landfill is open to the public from 12-5pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays over the winter, the village said in a Facebook post.
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Residents can arrange access to the landfill outside its scheduled hours by calling the village office, and the village is continuing large-item pickups.
Councillors agreed to explore using an existing public works building as a reuse area, where residents could drop off or pick up usable items once a week.
Cabin Radio contacted Gast, Larabie and Fort Simpson’s mayor, Les Wright for more information about operations at the landfill but did not receive a response before publication.
