SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Transport Canada has given the City of Yellowknife a green light to expand the dump into an adjacent rock quarry, six weeks after the department rejected the idea.

Kenny Guin checks out the salvage area at the dump. He says you never know when you're going to find something you could use tomorrow. Wednesday afternoon he picked up a pair of boots and a chair. - Elizabeth McMillan/NNSL photo

Last Wednesday, Andrea Rudniski, senior communications officer of the Prairie and Northern Region, said Transport Canada has no reservations about the city's proposal for the expansion because the waste will be moving to an area previously included in the grandfathered area. She said Transport Canada doesn't consider the city's plan an expansion because the proposal explained the city is using only a quarter of the new landfill area for household waste.

Mayor Gord Van Tighem says the city will be closing the area of the city's landfill used for household waste and putting that material into a smaller section in the adjacent quarry.

He said the quarry is within the boundaries of the landfill and it was always the intention to use it for waste.

"As the rock quarry goes down and the solid waste facility goes up, the plan was to move into the rock quarry," he said.

He said the expansion will cost an estimated $1.5 to $2 million and he expects the shift to take place within the next three years.

Transport Canada wanted to review the city's proposal because it had concerns about the number of birds that were attracted to the edible waste in the landfill due to its close proximity to the airport. Zoning regulations require landfills to be eight kilometres from an airport but the Yellowknife airport is an exception because it was approved before those regulations were in place.

Rudniski said the changes at the dump will help deal with the bird issue.

"The amount of waste that is actually going to be exposed to birds will be less than the amounts that's exposed right now," she said. "It's a win-win situation because it allows the city to expand the life of the landfill."

Rudniski said it will be up to the city and the airport to monitor birds. She said Transport Canada will inspect the Yellowknife airport annually and more frequently if the department has reason to believe there are any safety issues.

"We will continue to monitor the site to make sure birds aren't coming in a way that's going to be hazardous," she said.

Van Tighem said once it's baled and piled, household waste will be covered more quickly. The mayor said recycling and composting efforts have already extended the dump's landfill by several years.

"The amount that goes in there has gone down year, over year, over year while the community's grown," he said.

He said the new section will be smaller, but he didn't know how much smaller. The area that was previously used for household waste may be covered with crushed glass, shredded tires or remedied soil.

Van Tighem said despite the new structure, people will still be able to salvage used material.

"It's tradition, it's part of our culture, we live at the end of the road, it's very expensive when you're moving," he said, adding that he hopes a three-cell section at the front of a new landfill by the gate will make it easier for people to find things to re-use.

"Instead of dropping things off in the working space with the big garbage trucks and the digger trucks running around, it'll be in an area right at the front that's more convenient for everybody, and safer," he said.