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Landfill management was regulated in 1972 by Public Health Inspectors under The Public Health Act. In 1984, Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment assumed responsibility for regulating municipal waste disposal grounds (WDG). The Municipal Refuse Management Regulation (MRMR) was enacted in 1986 to regulate WDGs.
MRMR provided a comprehensive framework for a proponent of a new WDG to follow in pursuit of a permit to construct and operate such a facility. It also served to outline the ministry’s authority to conduct inspections, require routine environmental monitoring programs (mainly ground water sampling), submit reports, and other operational conditions.
As the industrial and commercial base of the Province developed, there arose a need for clarification of what types of wastes could be accepted for disposal at a municipally owned and operated WDG. The line separating hazardous from non-hazardous waste was no longer as definitive as modern society required.
The advent of community-led recycling programs also presented challenges for the operators of WDG. MRMR could not fully address the environmental protection or permitting issues of temporary storage of recyclable materials, especially when some of those materials at certain volumes could be classified as hazardous recyclables (e.g. vehicle batteries).
The development of an Environmental Code of Practice, to be introduced by government in 2012 for all non-hazardous landfills and transfer stations, affords the opportunity to correct the deficiencies of MRMR. The ministry has always ensured best management practices were incorporated in permits to construct and operate landfills and transfer stations, but unlike MRMR’s prescriptive regulations, the proposed Environmental Code of Practice was crafted to be a flexible, dynamic tool that could adapt to varying waste management demands as well as the evolution of environmental science and technology.
Unlike other environmental responsibilities the ministry regulates such as water quality or air quality, the proper management of a landfill presents unique challenges. The impact from the discharge of a pollutant into a waterway or the air-shed may be an instantaneous, short-term event which might be controllable or mitigated in a similarly short-time period. On the other hand, a landfill is a long-term repository of an ever changing mixture of contaminants which typically represent a threat to the environment in time periods measured in decades.
The proposed Environmental Code, in concert with the numerous topic specific Environmental Protection Bulletins, will provide quantitative guidance and a framework for innovation in the design, operation and maintenance of an essential component of the Province’s waste management infrastructure.
The Waste Disposal Grounds Binder (produced by Saskatchewan Ministry of Environment) is available to operators of waste disposal grounds in Saskatchewan.
For further information, please contact the environmental project officer in your area.
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