Biosolids won’t be coming to the Nicola Valley for the foreseeable future.
On Monday, BioCentral owner Andres Murillo announced to the Herald the company has self-imposed a moratorium on importing biosolids into the area until an agreement between the Ministry of Environment and local First Nations can be reached.
This initiative is what the five local First Nations chiefs sought when they met with the Ministry of Environment and Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart on Friday in Lower Nicola.
“We agree with the ministry and First Nations on honouring this moratorium,” Murillo said.
Biosolids destined for the Nicola Valley are being diverted to another company’s compost facility in Clinton, Murillo said.
Friday’s meeting hit an impasse when it became apparent that a moratorium wasn’t something the Ministry of Environment could provide.
BioCentral typically trucks in biosolids to its composting facility along Sunshine Valley Road in Lower Nicola, much to the disdain of local residents, who have recently set up roadblocks to stop them.
In Friday’s meeting, local chiefs and government representatives discussed where biosolids spreading applications are located in the area, the possibility of shutting down the compost facility and the jurisdiction surrounding it.
Environment Minister Mary Polak told the Herald her ministry doesn’t have the power to impose a moratorium as its authority extends to the regulations a biosolids compost facility must operate under, and not where it’s allowed to locate.
If a facility is operating within Ministry of Environment regulations, the ministry cannot halt their operations.
“I have no authority to step in and shut them down,” Polak said, noting that is what the chiefs were hopeful she could provide.
Polak said she and other Ministry of Environment officials have visited BioCentral’s Nicola Valley composting facility numerous times and conducted testing.
“There’s nothing to indicate that they’re operating in an unsafe way and handling the material in an unsafe way,” Polak said.
Lower Nicola Indian Band Chief Aaron Sam said the bands believe the province can do more to stop bringing biosolids into the Nicola Valley.
“The government has a constitutional obligation as reflected in the Tsilhqot’in decision to consent-based decision making with First Nations, and we haven’t been consulted at all,” Sam said.
Polak said how to involve the First Nations bands in the biosolids regulatory process wasn’t discussed on Friday, but that conversation can still be had in the future.
Shackan Band Chief Percy Joe has said there should be more testing done with regards to the safety of using biosolids.
“Where we would seek to involve First Nations — as we have with Mount Polly — is putting together a group that would work together in partnership; people from the province, people from the regional district, people representing the First Nations, who could work together around how biosolids are regulated and managed,” the minister said.
The chiefs don’t want the biosolids coming into the valley while they’re negotiating, Sam said.
Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart said she’s disappointed the meeting didn’t result in more of a solid path forward.
“But we’ll continue to work on it,” she said.
The compost facility on Sunshine Valley Road is allowed to operate there under the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) and local zoning bylaws, Polak said.
It is her understanding that officials from the Agricultural Land Commission — which governs the ALR — are going to investigate to make sure this local composting facility is following the rules for a permitted use.
The chances of prohibiting a biosolids composting facility retroactively with a bylaw are slim as doing so would constitute a legal issue, Polak said.
