METRO VANCOUVER -- Delta has rid itself of a costly headache by finally finding someone willing to take the contaminated Delta Shake and Shingle site off its hands.
Delta council approved a transfer agreement this week with Ocean Trailer to sell the former demolition landfill property for a dollar.
"We are not responsible for mitigation and we don't want to mitigate. We didn't want that place in the first place," an elated Mayor Lois Jackson told the Optimist this week.
A large area of the old landfill was acquired by Delta through a tax default following a major fire over a decade ago. Delta owns two of the three parcels that make up the site located adjacent to where the South Fraser Perimeter Road is being constructed.
"The closure and re-development of the former Delta Shake and Shingle site is a challenging, long-term proposition that involves a considerable financial commitment as well as the assumption of various environmental risks and liabilities," a report to council states.
Delta has tried to sell the property before, including an offer for sale in 2002 that produced no results.
The considerable costs to clean up and monitor the site and meet provincial regulations make it a tough sell, according to the report, which also stated land use options could be limited because as the waste material continues to degrade and settle over many years, landfill gas and leachate would be produced and create "very challenging" conditions for building construction.
The site in the 8900-block of River Way and 9000-block of River Road has been inactive since a major fire burned there for 10 weeks in 1999, prompting Delta to declare a state of emergency.
The province permitted several demolition landfills to operate in the area beginning in the mid-1980s, despite concerns by Delta the sites were too close to the Fraser River and Burns Bog, both ecologically sensitive areas.
The underground fire was fully extinguished at a cost of more than $4 million. The owner was eventually fined $75,000 in provincial court.
The extinguished material was placed back into the landfill in a fire-proof manner, but, according to the report, at its current state the landfilled areas have negative or, at best, negligible value. The closure costs for the entire site are estimated to be $7.5 million, not including the post-closure monitoring costs as well as the costs of discharging leachate.
"You have to appreciate that on paper, the assessed value may be $7 million, but we are told it's cost at least $7 million to bring it back," said Jackson
"It's a huge undertaking, so we're giving them (Ocean Trailer) a break on DCCs (development cost charges), we're giving them a break for five years on taxation to be held at a certain level. This is an investment for Delta's future, " Jackson said.
Ocean Trailer, a Coquitlam-based trailer and container business that has an adjacent facility on River Road, will assume responsibility for the closure of the municipally-owned parcels.
The company plans to use the site for open storage.
Jackson said the company would also relocate to Delta and build a new head office.
The Delta Shake and Shingle site was in the news a couple of years ago when the municipality pitched it as a potential home for a new Lower Mainland remand centre.
The province announced the jail would be located in Surrey, prompting Delta to look at other options, including selling it to private interests.
Meantime, Delta is asking the province to review its remediation regulations to encourage the private owner of the third parcel of the site to also take steps to clean up the property.
All the demolition landfills on River Road are now closed.
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