By Jenn Watt

Minden Hills will close the Irondale landfill this fall and Irondale residents may be able to take their waste to a Gooderham site in the new year if Highlands East council continues to move forward with an agreement to allow those residents to use the Gooderham facility.

At their July 14 council meeting Highlands East councillors were briefed on the idea by environmental supervisor Stewart Hurd who said the agreement would apply to residents of the former Snowdon Township in the eastern corner of Minden Hills.

“The agreement would include accommodation for the deposit of [one 40-yard] bin for residential waste and the use of existing blue box electronics and scrap metal bins at the site” Hurd’s report reads. “It is estimated that approximately 23 (70 per cent of 33) additional daily users would visit the Gooderham Transfer Station. Additional landfill attendant duties would include greeting additional visitors checking landfill passes inspecting waste provide instruction(s) remove contaminants from bins and complete logbook notes.”

Deputy Mayor Cec Ryall asked whether the additional usage would put pressure on Highlands East’s landfill sites.

“Minden Hills will … have a bin in place for the household garbage and they’ll take that back to their landfill and then the rest of it is shipped out. That’ll be something that we’ll have to come to agreement as far as cost but as far as any additional depositing of household waste that won’t be taking place at our landfills” Hurd replied.

The new arrangement would require an amendment to the municipality’s environmental compliance approval and would likely take effect in the new year if all plans go ahead.

Council accepted Hurd’s report for information purposes.