Kamloops biosolids being used around city including TMX restoration

Photo: Brendan Kergin

Biosolids at the Kamloops wastewater treatment centre.

When sections of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project finish up in Kamloops, restoration of the construction area will use biosolids originally from the city.

Kamloops biosolids are currently being trucked down to Princeton where they're turned into Class compost material, city civic operations director Jenn Fretz says. From there they return to Kamloops where they're used for a variety of projects around town, from flower beds to McArthur Islands refurbished road to Riverside Park.

"We mix it with soil that's already on site and then it's a fantastic growing material," she says, noting it's being used at the Kamloops Resource Recovery Centre so vegetation can grow in areas it hasn't for years.

As the TMX pipeline is constructed through the city, including Kenna Cartwright Park, the material will be laid down to help restore the plant life above the pipeline.

"We’ve been working with Trans Mountain and TRU on what their restoration will look like, especially through our parks," Fretz says.

The city's stockpile of biosolids is almost gone, she notes. Once it is, the trucking of the material will cost the city about $1.2 million a year. 

The city could consider building a composting facility in Kamloops she adds, but they're waiting for the Organic Matter Recycling Regulation (which is under review by the province) to be updated. Material just like what's being created using Kamloops's biosolids is sold in retail locations in the city, she notes.