A mobile soil washing facility officially opened in Chilliwack and it’s the first of its kind in North America.
Located at Shxwhá:y Village, the Shxwhá:y Soil Management Facility diverts contaminated soil from landfills by separating and cleaning it so it can be repurposed.
The multi-million dollar Headlands Environmental facility officially opened on Tuesday, June 30. It is operated and staffed in partnership with Shxwhá:y Village.
It was on that same site where Headlands staff watched sand and gravel from their projects be pushed into their waste receiving cell and left there in perpetuity, said Mike Hofer owner of Headlands Environmental.
“We thought to ourselves ‘There has to be a better way. There must be a better method. There must be a way to reclaim the sands and gravels or to repurpose these materials.’ And now there is,” he said.
The soil comes from construction sites across the Lower Mainland and Metro Vancouver, such as the Highway 1 expansion project, hospital builds, and condo developments.
Jamie Raymer, Headlands operations manger, explained how the system works.
First, large rocks, debris and garbage are removed. The finer material then goes through the plant where it is introduced to water, taking the sands that are in the soil and separating them from the aggregates, which are the rocks.
The rocks are separated by size. Larger rocks, all the way down to smaller gravel pieces, are dumped from a conveyor belt into different piles.
The sand is separated into fine and coarse piles using water and a mechanical process. The water used to wash the aggregates goes into a water treatment plant, much like a coffee filter press, where it is plunged.
The residual comes out as a thick, dense product they call a “filter cake,” Raymer said.
“That water we used is now clean again, and that water goes back into the very start of the system and recirculates through,” he said.
It took four years of researching soil-washing equipment and technology, including trips to Ireland, London, Finland and Norway to make the plant a reality, and it will change how soil is managed in the Lower Mainland, Hofer said.
He said for some projects “give us two weeks of lead time, we’ll actually wash your soils and give them back to you.”
The unique, patented system allows operators to add modules easily as a result of growing demand, or relocate the plant, which is on tracks, when or if required.
“We believe the perception of excess soils being seen as a waste will now be seen as a resource, which can be cleaned, it can be recycled and it can be beneficially repurposed back into the market which will support economic development while reducing greenhouse gas and carbon footprint impacts,” Hofer said.
Robert Gladstone, Chief of Shxwhá:y Village, called the project a “milestone.”
“This project represents innovation rooted in partnership and stewardship,” he said. “Together, we are creating long-term environmental and economic benefits for our community and future generations.”