Saving Our Industrial Lands Initiative

The River Road East corridor in Delta, B.C. is home to several derelict landfill sites which pose significant physical, economic and legal barriers to development. The goal of the 'Saving Our Industrial Lands' (SOIL) initiative is to promote the closure of those sites, facilitate their re-development, and spur the economic revitalization of the surrounding area. The SOIL initiative has brought together landowners, businesses, and government agencies to develop strategies to achieve that goal, including:

• development of a vision for eco-industrial development and development permit guidelines for the River Road East corridor;
• provision of economic incentives, including municipal tax exemptions, that apply to landfill sites;
• streamlining of regulatory approval processes;
• collaboration with senior government agencies; and
• promotion of public-private partnerships.

The Delta Shake & Shingle (DSS) landfill redevelopment is an excellent example of these tools at work. On this, the largest of the landfill sites (2 million m3 of waste), a fire broke out in 1999 and, by the time it had been extinguished three months later, a local state of emergency had been declared, a toxic plume of smoke had dispersed over the region, and ditches and groundwater had been contaminated. The landowner declared bankruptcy leaving the provincial government with a $4 million bill and the municipality with an 'orphan' brownfield site.

Preserving Delta's Industrial Lands

In 2008, the alignment of the South Fraser Perimeter Road, a major provincial highway, had been finalized and Delta commissioned a report into the feasibility of using the road construction to achieve landfill closure. View this report - "Preserving Delta's Industrial Lands: Using the Gateway Project as a Catalyst to Redevelop the River Road Landfill Sites".

In 2009, the construction of a major provincial highway through the southernmost section of the landfill provided an opportunity for Delta to work with government and private partners to achieve landfill closure. The $7 million closure project used innovative engineering design works to transform 70% of the landfill to productive industrial use.

The construction of a multi-million dollar eco-industrial facility by Ocean Trailer, the property owner, will be complete by the end of 2012, bringing with it more than 150 jobs and spurring interest in other developments in the area.

Additional Resources

• Official Community Plan
• Delta's Climate Change Initiative
• Burns Bog
• Metro Vancouver Regional Growth Strategy
• Metro Vancouver Sustainable Region Initiative
• Presentation to Delta Chamber of Commerce
• Ocean Trailer

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