A subsidiary of Vancouver's Teck Cominco Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B), Highland Valley Copper, has received its environmental certificate to build a landfill at its mine located 19 kilometres west of Logan Lake.
Approval of the 140-hectare landfill will allow more than 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste to be deposited at the open-pit copper mine. The project can handle up to 600,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year.
The environmental certificate requires that the project install, among other things:
a triple-liner for the site to contain, collect and treat any leachate;
an extensive groundwater monitoring system;
a landfill gas management system; and
wildlife fencing and litter control to minimize wildlife access to the site.
The site's use still depends on completion of amendments to Metro Vancouver's solid waste management plan, which is exploring alternatives for dealing with the region's waste.