A mass work camp of 1,700 people paid by BC taxpayers could go to the local landfill by the end of the year, warns a new report.
The accommodations were built to support the construction of the hydroelectric dam of site C near Fort St. John in the Northeast of BC, which the province says it is the largest public infrastructure project in the history of BC.
Opened in 2016 at a cost of $ 470 million For construction and eight years of operationThe camp includes a movie theater, gym, gym, cafeteria and 21 three -story bedrooms, each with approximately 80 rooms that consist of a bed and a bathroom. Google reviews of people who have stayed there notice a cafeteria and game room, outdoor fires and barrel beer in the bar.
Now, local leaders are trying to prevent the camp from adding lots of waste to the local landfill; A problem, a sustainability expert says that it is too common when buildings are demolished throughout British columbia.
“It’s like a mini city, almost,” says Leonard Hiebert, president of the Regional District of Peace River (PRRD) where the camp is located.
But that “city” will not be necessary since the dam produces energy and the site goes from construction to the operation, which will require much less workers. Once that happens, the camp will be replaced by a cultural center, and BC Hydro is trying to discover what to do with unnecessary accommodations before being wasted.
In 2016, a work camp of 1,700 people was opened in the Site C dam near Fort St. John in the Northeast of BC.
Local government trapped by surprise
Energeticic City, a local news site in Fort St. John, reported for the first time that the camp could be destined for a local landfill.
During that meeting, the PRRD Board received a report from its Environmental Services Department by informing them that a BC Hydro contractor had recently contacted asking about the capacity for classification and storage in North Peace’s landfill.
The report says that in total, camp buildings represent 665,443 square feet along with “concrete, asphalt slabs and steel batteries” associated with demolition work scheduled for later this year.
“He took me by surprise,” said the director of PRRD, Brad Sperling, who represents the area that includes the dam and the landfill where the camp could be eliminated, at the meeting.
“This is totally bad.”
Other directors expressed a similar surprise, as well as a concern for the costs associated with the massive amount of materials that would fill the landfill long before planned, removing years of their life.
Something of interest but without snacks
Site C, Greg Alexis spokesman says it is true that hope has always been to find a new use for the work camp, but so far, they have not been successful.
As a result, he said, preliminary work is being done to find out what other options exist, including recycling and elimination of buildings locally.
He said that in the last two years, BC Hydro has been reaching groups, including the first nations, government agencies and private companies to see if someone was interested in acquiring some or all adaptations, but “ultimately, at this time, we have no organizations that have a firm interest.”
In the course of 11 weeks, BC Hydro filled the deposit of the 83 -kilometer s site D dam, near Fort St. John, which covers a surface 25 times the size of Stanley Park.
The camp is being used in the summer, he said, and “our goal is still to find an organization or organizations that wish to acquire the camp or parts of it, and that will continue until the end.”
Most of the furniture and equipment in the camp, he said, was being reused, but the main challenge are the buildings themselves.
Part of the problem, he said, is the big size: move only one of the 21 bedrooms, he said, would require “almost 30 flat bed trucks”, plus the cost and time associated with disassembling and reensating them and, in some cases, improving them to meet local construction codes.
He said that while there had been a couple of dozens of organizations that had expressed interest in the facilities, after looking more closely, they discovered that they did not meet their needs.
“We have also heard that in some cases it is more profitable for an organization to go directly to a supplier and request its own special installation,” he said.
When asked about the cost of acquiring camp buildings, he said it would be negotiated with anyone who expressed interest.
A ‘attention call’ for construction waste
For Glyn Lewis, the possibility that hundreds of rooms be eliminated after less than 10 years of use is endemic to a culture of disposition, even around homes and buildings.
He is the founder of Renewal Development, a company based in Vancouver who saves single -family houses scheduled for demolition and transports them to other communities where they can be reused and reused.
A company based in Vancouver is saving houses from demolition and moving them through the province, where they are very necessary. CBC Lyndsay Duncombe explains the house recycling process and the benefits that come with him.
“I am surprised that there must be more responsible alternatives to simply break thousands of thousands of homes and send all those materials to the landfill,” he said.
In the Vancouver subway, he said, approximately one third of the use of the landfill is destined to construction and demolition, and wants governments and private organizations to do more to think about how to prevent that from happening.
In the case of work camps, he said, the buildings could be built not only for the purposes of a particular project but also with one eye to what could be used for the next one.
“Too often, we don’t design for circularity,” he said. “We do not design with the consideration of what is the end of the life of what we are creating.”
He pointed out that there are other resource projects around the province and that modular housing has advanced to a point where buildings can be designed for transport and use as necessary.
“This is a great attention call for the industry, for governments about … look at more responsible alternatives than a single use for homes or buildings, whatever it is.”
Hiebert, the president of the Regional District, said his Board had suggestions to reuse at least one of the buildings such as a treatment center or a place for children and families to stay while visiting the hospital.
After almost a decade of construction, the massive dam on site C is finally generating electricity. But the debate about the megaproject is far from finishing. While it is intended to feed thousands of houses and electric cars, what is the real cost and who can win? Camille Vernet reports.
A meeting with BC Hydro is being installed, he said, to discuss the next steps.
When asked if he supported the need for work camps, he said he did it, after having seen multiple resources and coming projects over the years. In the case of site C, he said, adding almost 2,000 people to the local population without a place to live would have quickly overwhelmed the existing hotels and rent units.
“So I agree with the camp,” he said. “I think the question we are dealing with is what are we doing with it now that they have ended?”
