Ch. 3 Land - Environment Yukon

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Northwest staging route, and an oil refinery were built during the 1940s, a war-time mentality prevailed. Speed was of the essence with all of these huge projects, and environmental considerations were often not taken into account. Little was known, for example, about the long-term effects of hydrocarbon wastes. An oil refinery was built in what is now known as the Marwell industrial area in Whitehorse. Though it only operated for a year, the refinery and the system of storage tanks and pipelines that went along with it left a trail of contamination behind them. Some sites, such as the Marwell tar pit, still have not been cleaned up. In the 1950s the Cold War brought another US military project to the north, the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. This system was built to detect Russian long-range bombers. It was also the era when PCBs and other hazardous substances were in widespread use. PCB-laced paint was used at the three DEW Line stations built on the Yukon’s North Coast, which are all slated for clean-up. For more than two decades, DDT was used to control mosquitoes in the Yukon. Starting in the 1940s, DDT was sprayed from airplanes over lakes and rivers, roadways, pipelines and communities. Cans of DDT were abandoned at Rainy Hollow, a former pumping station in British Columbia, just across the Yukon border. Brooks Brook on Teslin Lake, a former military site, was also heavily contaminated with DDT. These two sites were cleaned up by the federal government at great expense. Thousands of American soldiers and civilians came to the Yukon to work on these megaprojects, and their arrival created a garbage problem in the Yukon. The approach used for disposing trash in Whitehorse was typical for that era. The American army opened a dump by a cliff off Range Road, near the confluence of McIntyre Creek and the Yukon River. Debris was regularly pushed over the edge into the Yukon River 2. “Before 1939, they were dumping all the garbage in the channels of the Yukon River right where Sophie Slim used to live (near Kishwoot Island) in downtown Whitehorse.” – Paddy Jim, Champagne and Aishihik First Nation Elder Paddy Jim The Range Road dump was closed in 1975, and tests have shown that leachate from this dump now has only a minor impact on groundwater at the dump site and no measurable impact on the quality of Yukon River water. But First Nations and other residents downstream of the dump are still concerned about lingering contamination. Tests of sediment cores taken from Lake Laberge, downstream of the dump, indicate that a spill of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) occurred sometime in the 1950s. This may or may not be associated with the Range Road dump. In 1976 the City of Whitehorse tried a new disposal method. It began burning its garbage and putting the residue in the War Eagle Pit, an abandoned quarry pit located near the current Whitehorse landfill. Waste oil was disposed of in one part of the pit, a practice that continued until 1995. After 10 years, concerns about groundwater contamination led to the opening of the Son of War Eagle Pit, the territory’s first sanitary landfill. Landfilling, or covering garbage with dirt, is an expensive way to dispose of trash, and the city is still working on ways to reduce the amount of waste that goes into the pit. What is so special about Special Waste? The main problem with solid waste is that it takes up space, and even in a land as vast as the Yukon, finding locations for new dumps can be a problem. Special waste, on the other hand, requires special handling. It cannot just be thrown into the dump. Special wastes include dangerous goods that are no longer used for their original purposes, and can take any form from a solid to a gas. Waste oil and biomedical waste are two examples of special wastes. Common special wastes in homes and businesses include waste oil, solvents, petroleum products, unused household cleaners, paints and pesticides. This unwanted material presents a serious real or potential hazard to health, safety, and the environment. Permits are required for handling various quantities of special waste. No exact figures are available on the amount of special waste generated Special waste can be: • flammable • corrosive • toxic • infectious •explosive •radioactive • persistent 5 2 ❧ Y U K O N S T A T E O F T H E E N V I R O N M E N T R E P O R T 1999
every year in the Yukon, but the annual special waste collection alone removes 25 tonnes. This amount does not include the special wastes treated or disposed of in the Yukon, or the special wastes shipped independently of the Yukon government collection system. If national estimates of special waste generated per capita are applied to the Yukon, we probably produce about 100 tonnes of special waste per year in the territory. When these wastes are not handled in a responsible way, the environment and human health can suffer. Because of a lack of money and poor understanding of the consequences, many kinds of special wastes have been treated like everyday garbage in the past. This has caused: ■ groundwater contamination by leachate (the liquid that seeps through the waste); ■ surface water contamination through run-off from precipitation and snowmelt, and contact with contaminated groundwater; ■ local air pollution because of open burning and evaporation; ■ soil contamination; Household hazardous waste 1% Solid waste 30% Recyclable materials 20% Compostable materials 49% Figure 3.13 Current composition of Whitehorse waste This figure shows the composition of the waste stream in Whitehorse, not the composition of the landfill. As shown, 69 per cent of Whitehorse waste could be recycled or composted. ■ direct poisoning or injury to people and wildlife exposed to the waste; ■ food web poisoning; and ■ fires and explosions. Cleaning up a site after it has been contaminated is both expensive and dangerous. Managing special and hazardous wastes has become a priority for all of us because of these potential problems. Now a special waste permit under the Special Waste Regulations is required to generate, collect, or dispose of special wastes. Special waste is a harmful substance that requires special management and cannot be discarded without risk to public health and the environment. The federal Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA) defines many substances that require special handling. Under the Yukon government’s Dangerous Goods Transportation Act, dangerous goods are defined as materials that have an inherent hazard. Oven cleaner and varsol are two examples of dangerous goods. When the time comes to dispose of these products, they are then classified as special wastes. Types of waste In our throw-away society, we produce many different types of solid waste. Figure 3.13 shows the basic components of solid waste in Whitehorse garbage and Figure 3.15 shows landfill volumes. Waste could be reduced significantly with greater composting and recycling. How are we managing solid waste? Solid waste is the everyday garbage that goes to the local dump. It can come from residential, commercial, industrial, or other human related activities or sources; and include everything from ashes, domestic garbage, compost, vehicle hulks, and tin cans to plastic containers and old tires. It also includes waste generated by the demolition or construction of buildings or other structures. Solid waste does not normally include waste from industrial activities like mining or hazardous materials that are harmful to the environment and require special handling. These are called special wastes. Waste disposal practices now Most solid waste in the Yukon is disposed of in 26 waste sites located in or near communities (Figure 3.14). The Yukon Department of Community and Transportation Services manages 19 of these sites, while the rest are the responsibility of incorporated municipalities. Rural communities are served either by a municipal dump or by a Yukon government site. All solid waste disposal sites managed by the territorial government are operated according to the Solid Waste Management Procedures and Guidelines, updated in March 1996. In addition to the 26 managed sites, the many abandoned and unregulated garbage dumps in the Yukon are regularly being assessed and cleaned up. At most Yukon garbage dumps, waste is thrown into an excavated trench or natural depression where it is periodically compacted and burned. When the trench is filled to its capacity it is covered with soil. Most of these areas hold less than 30 cubic metres of garbage and last about five years. Solid Waste Disposal regulations adopted in 2000, will affect how garbage is handled and waste sites are developed in the future. We now know that there are costs associated with the dumping of solid waste. The City of Whitehorse Solid Waste Action Plan outlines the many direct and indirect costs associated with waste disposal 3. C H A P T E R 3 L A N D ❧ 5 3
Page 1 and 2: The Yukon is situated in the northw
Page 3 and 4: number of humans is immense. As cou
Page 5 and 6: Different data sources for 1999 tha
Page 7 and 8: ■ protecting core areas within ea
Page 9 and 10: within the study area in February 1
Page 11 and 12: 3.4 Mining Mining has been an impor
Page 13 and 14: An environmental review committee,
Page 15 and 16: Reclamation and Abandonment When th
Page 17 and 18: first bar of gold on November 23, 1
Page 19: This creates uncertainty and delays
Page 23 and 24: Direct Costs: ■ Picking up Whiteh
Page 25 and 26: The Yukon’s beverage container re
Page 27 and 28: Contaminant? In Carcross, the recen
Page 29 and 30: PROGRESS & CHALLENGES Since the 199
Page 31 and 32: with the objective of import replac
Page 33 and 34: still exist along the old trails an
Page 35 and 36: 3.8 Tourism Tourism is gaining impo

Ch. 3 Land - Environment Yukon

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