The City of Rivière-du-Loup, QC has prioritized economic, environmental and social development in the community. To chart a course for its future, the city prepared a long-term sustainable development plan based on The Natural Step planning framework. Its goal was to build an integrated community plan that will unfold over 40 years.

The city also wanted to ratify its municipal policies and review its zoning bylaws. The plan was developed in five stages: create a vision, assess the current situation, pinpoint areas for improvement, implement the plan, and follow up.

Other Canadian municipalities, especially those that are similar to Rivière-du-Loup, can learn from this exercise and use it as a basis for their own plans.

Results

Challenges

• A lack of funds hampered progress and added to the timeline, which discouraged some stakeholders.
• The municipal council had to share some decision-making power with various public interest groups.

Lessons learned

• Public consultation slows the process down, but is essential for both the successful rollout and long-term implementation of the plan.
• Using outside expertise and having someone work full-time on the project proved to be important because too long a process can discourage stakeholders.
• Council must be absolutely committed to the process.

Resources

• Rivière-du-Loup sustainable development leader

Partners and Collaborators

• City of Rivière-du-Loup
• The Natural Step Canada
• FCM's Green Municipal Fund

Project Contact

Éric Côté, Director
Service de l'environnement et du développement durable
City of Rivière-du-Loup, QC
T. 418-867-6663

The City of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu studied the feasibility of using municipal sewage sludge as agricultural fertilizer. 

Every year, the municipal wastewater treatment plant trucks 11,000 tonnes of biosolids to a landfill more than 100 kilometres away. After field tests, the study team gave a thumbs-up to spreading the sludge on land. The study showed that an open-air composting site would have to be built to treat the biosolids during winter and rainy periods. Ideally, the bulking agent added to the sludge would be organic waste from household collection.

Spreading municipal biosolids on agricultural lands is a solution that has financial benefits for farmers and the municipality, and is good for the environment.

Results

Challenges

• Devising a composting and/or storage scenario for winter, when biosolids cannot be transported directly to farmers' fields.
• Overcoming the public's discomfort with the idea of spreading sewage sludge on land.

Lessons learned

• During winter, composting is preferable to simple storage because it brings biosolids to maturity sooner and improves their physical characteristics.
• Field tests were important in showing that the project would not have negative impacts like unpleasant odours.
• The proximity of vast agricultural areas is a big part of what made this project economical.

The Municipality of the District of Shelburne studied the feasibility of building a local waste transfer station to reduce the costs and environmental impact of trucking waste to a landfill in another municipality. 

Under a shared service agreement, the district also provides collection and disposal for the Town of Shelburne and the Town of Lockeport. Once filled, the curbside collection trucks, better suited to short hauls, make a three-hour return trip to the landfill. A transfer station would allow specially-designed long-haul trucks to make the trip to the landfill.

Building a waste transfer station would reduce fuel consumption. It would, however, provide economic benefits only if two neighbouring municipalities (the District of Barrington and the Town of Clark's Harbour) participated in the project.

Results

Challenges

• Finding a suitable location for a waste transfer station.
• Estimating financial savings in the face of changing energy prices.
• Familiarizing outside consultants with the needs of the rural community.

Lessons learned

• Engage staff in the early stages of any feasibility study.
• Make sure all quantities included in the analysis, such as amount of fuel used, are adequately researched.
• Make sure that the process for evaluating the technical and economic feasibility is defined clearly and early.
• Use the skills of the steering group.

To reduce economic and environmental costs, the District of Squamish tested sediment in a nearby ocean channel for use as fill in a major waterfront redevelopment project.

If safe, sediment from the Mamquam Blind Channel would be a convenient source of filling to develop a park in a project by Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp. The project would transform a former 59-acre industrial site into a peninsula of neighbourhoods, parkland and beaches.

The sediment passed the purity tests, avoiding the need for 20,000 truckloads of material to be delivered from a site 15 kilometres away. It provides an environmentally friendly, less costly source of clean fill for the new development.

Results

Challenges

• Assuring sediment was free of mercury and hydrocarbon contamination from an old chlor-alkali processing plant.
• Finding staff time for up to 70 hours of work in writing grant applications and reports.

Lessons learned

• Review reports and interview former occupants of test sites to identify areas of potential contamination.
• Where possible, use divers, not barge-based drill rigs, to collect sediment samples. They cost less and are more flexible.
• Costly anti-pollution checks are worth the money; they clear the way for profitable economic redevelopment.

Resources

• Squamish Oceanfront

Partners and Collaborators

• District of Squamish
• Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp.
• Hemmera Envirochem
• FCM's Green Municipal Fund

Project Contact

Heather Dunham
Manager, Squamish Oceanfront Development Corp.
District of Squamish, BC
T. 604-815-5075

To give itself new opportunities and a new look, the Town of Fort Erie drafted a brownfield revitalization plan that offers developers tax and other incentives to clean up and redevelop more than 250 acres of vacant, abandoned, and possibly contaminated industrial sites.

The town, connected to Buffalo, New York, by the International Peace Bridge over the Niagara River, was once a bustling commercial centre, home to aircraft and chemical factories, steel plants and lumber yards. Now manufacturing has given way to a tourism and service economy, leaving the urban landscape studded with unsightly scenes of industrial dereliction.

To rectify this, the town commissioned studies on brownfield remediation and the economic, environmental and social benefits that would flow from it. Then it adopted a plan that will not only provide financial incentives for private redevelopment but also encourage the town itself to lead the way by reclaiming and rebuilding brownfield sites it owns.

Results

Challenges

• Convincing skeptical property owners and developers that tax and grant incentives are rich enough to make brownfield remediation and redevelopment profitable.
• Convincing skeptical ratepayers that tax holidays and breaks for brownfield developers will generate higher tax revenue in the future.
• Spurring development in a town with a limited economic base.

Lessons learned

• Allow ample time to review draft reports from consultants to keep the process moving expeditiously.
• Be prepared for pressure before the plan is finished from investors and sellers looking to know how remediation incentives might affect business deals.
• Public information meetings help generate investor interest in brownfield cleanup work.

Resources

• Town of Fort Erie Brownfields Community Improvement Plan

Partners and collaborators

• Town of Fort Erie
• RCI Consulting
• Fort Erie Economic Development and Tourism Corp.
• Region of Niagara
• FCM's Green Municipal Fund

Project Contact

David Heyworth
Senior Policy Planner
Fort Erie, ON
T. 905-871-1600 ext. 2504

The City of Kamloops evaluated the extent of soil and groundwater contamination on a portion of the municipally-owned site of the former provincial Rayleigh Correctional Centre. Previously a Department of National Defence munitions depot, the site had also been used for waste oil drum and coal storage, an incinerator, a fire pit and a landfill.

The study identified contaminants in 5,000 cubic metres of soil and outlined a remediation plan. The contaminated soil was used for road construction, buried on site or removed. Sampling determined that the groundwater did not require remediation, as its quality was comparable to water elsewhere in the valley.

The city built the Tournament Capital Ranch on the site in 2011. It features eight baseball diamonds and two rugby fields. Future development may include an exhibition/agri-plex building and equestrian facilities. The Tk'emlups First Nation is making plans for an RV park, and a portion of the land has been retained for agricultural use.

Results

Challenges

• The city found munitions-related debris from the World War II era. Removal of this material required the involvement of the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces.
• Additional work was required to meet stringent agricultural and water-quality standards.
• Provincial Ministry of Environment standards, guidelines and regulations changed during the project.
• Some waste was deemed hazardous and had to be taken to a more distant landfill at additional cost to the city.

Lessons learned

• Allocate time and resources for unanticipated issues, particularly with large, complex projects.
• Deal with issues as they arise, and don't take short-cuts.
• Ensure that all stakeholders-including city council, senior management, staff, project team members and the public-understand the remediation process.
• Work with local consultants to reduce travel costs and provide flexibility for the project team.
• Use city staff for tasks such as soil removal, to save time and money.

Resources

• Sustainable Kamloops Plan
• Kamloops Official Community Plan

Project Contact

Nick DeCicco
Parks Project and Planning Supervisor
Parks, Recreation & Culture
City of Kamloops, British Columbia
T. 250-828-3518

Dufferin County is considering an energy-from-waste solution for its garbage. The county studied a plasma gasification technology that converts waste into electricity, examining two options — 50,000-tonnes-and 70,000-tonnes per year — that might be large enough to be economical. Only the larger option, which could reduce landfill waste by 200 to 250 tonnes per day, was found to be feasible. It would divert as much as 90 per cent of waste from the landfill and avoid the cost of building a new landfill or of trucking waste outside the municipality.

Results

Challenges

• The cost of a feasibility study for a waste management project - especially for a fairly new technology - is challenging for a small municipality.

Lessons learned

• Build for the future. If a 50,000-tonne facility is needed now, build to a 70,000-tonne capacity and find someone who needs to manage 20,000 tonnes a year until the volume ramps up.
• The team should have dropped the smaller option from the study as soon as it was clearly not viable. That would left more resources for investigation of the more ambitious option.

Côte-de-Beaupré aims to be a healthy region

To support long-term community planning, the Côte-de-Beaupré Regional County Municipality (MRC) has produced an integrated sustainability plan. The outcome of a major public consultation process, the plan is integrated, practical and inclusive. It consists of a mobilization plan, two-stage sustainability strategic plans, and a sustainable development plan. These guides will enable the MRC to protect the environment, diversify its economy and improve citizens' quality of life.

This master plan for sustainability replaces the existing development plan. Local municipalities will be required to amend their urban planning bylaws to comply with the vision and development orientations defined in the new regional plan.

Results

Challenges

• The MRC had difficulty obtaining buy-in from stakeholders but invested time and energy in circulating information about its approach, project progress, planned activities and achievements. Its perseverance brought most of the public on board, and created ambassadors in various business sectors.

Lessons learned

• The process should be completed quickly to maintain the interest of elected officials, local stakeholders and the public. 
• Obtain commitment at the outset from key parties as their strengths and skills will influence the dynamics of every consultation activity.
• In  public consultations, show people actual components even if they are incomplete, to elicit. better informed, more constructive input.
• Developing the sustainability plan internally gave the MRC experience and confidence that will be useful in other projects.

Partners and Collaborators

• MRC de la Côte-de-Beaupré
• Groupe IBI | DAA

Project Contact

Gitane St-Georges
Sustainability Officer
Côte-de-Beaupré RCM, QC
Château-Richer, QC
T. 418 824-3420, ext. 239

The Town of Lockeport developed an integrated community sustainability plan in collaboration with its citizens to guide its environmental, social, cultural and economic development for 30-plus years. Lockeport is a tiny, isolated town on Nova Scotia's south shore. While rich in cultural heritage, it is dealing with limited financial resources, an aging population, and a fishing industry that is no longer the economic engine it once was. The area is also feeling the impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events.

The plan outlines ways to boost tourism, revitalize local commerce, reduce reliance on cars and protect the natural environment, among many other goals. The plan will help the town think more creatively about how to build a sustainable Lockeport and reduce its environmental footprint.

Results

Challenges

• Limited financial resources has led to constraints on new initiatives.
• Developing a diverse, vibrant local economy is difficult in a geographically isolated region.

Lessons learned

• Community participation is a must, so knock on as many doors as possible in the development of the plan.
• Be aware of the amount of time staff will need to develop the plan.

Resources

• Lockeport Integrated Community Sustainability Plan

Partners and collaborators

• Town of Lockeport
• FCM's Green Municipal Fund

Project contact

Bil Atwood
Project Manager
Lockeport, NS
T. 902-656-2209