Warming the Land Fill
For some years now it has been a provincial law forbidding the burning of landfill sites. Since this is a provincial law, how come we can see and sometimes smell the aroma of a fire from Tisdaleís landfill site? Tisdale obtains a burning permit.
Garbage is a serious problem in a consumer society like our own and we have over the years heard a lot of discussion about our need to conserve, recycle and reduce hydrocarbon emissions. About two decades ago most households had a burning barrel at the back of their yard where combustible waste was burned but this dangerous and polluting practice ended and of course the waste continues to be unwanted. Municipal governments throughout our entire continent are struggling with the difficult problem of what to do with waste. The traditional solution has on the prairies been solved by digging a hole and tossing in the garbage. But landfill sites can consume enormous amounts of real estate and pose a continuous problem for pollution of the environment. Where landfill is used solely as the only means of handling trash the problem of rats and other scavengers soon become a serious problem and the landfill site has to be a large one, requiring constant excavation and filling.
Tisdaleís council, many years ago, proposed the construction of a large incinerator to handle flammable waste, but the provincial government did not approve of that solution and hence ìpermitî burning.
