(Submitted photo/Town of Kinistino)

By Ben Tompkins

Government Funding

Kinistino receives nearly $300k to decommission landfill

Jan 31, 2023 | 8:00 AM

The Town of Kinistino has received help from both the Government of Saskatchewan and the Government of Canada.

A total of $285,987 was given to the community in the form of ICIP grants.

Along with the $104,013 from the town itself, all funds will go toward a project which will decommission and reclaim the Kinistino landfill.

“It’s a very positive situation for Kinistino, a very positive step forward, and we look forward to being compliant and getting things cleaned up and looking good out there,” explained Kinistino mayor, Mark Powalinsky.

With the landfill site now closed, the town has left dump bins out there for residents to use a couple of times a week.

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(Submitted photo/Town of Kinistino)

The community has also set up recycling and waste bins for every resident, which are collected on alternate weeks.

According to Powalinsky, while the landfill won’t be turned into a park, it will at least be better than it was before.

“The intended use for it going forward is native pasture land. It’ll involve what the government calls an engineering covering system, stormwater and drainage infrastructure, installation of monitoring wells, hopefully, a place where pollution and such is kept to a minimum.”

This project has been many years in the making as the town started accruing landfill liability in 2002.

Meanwhile, in 2018, a solid waste management study was performed by their engineers, and it was determined that it would be the most cost-effective to close the landfill at that time.

Kinistino was also aware of several communities within their vicinity, that were looking at a regional landfill, so they knew they had a venue to work with there.

(Submitted photo/Town of Kinistino)

While the community is excited about the grants they received and the project’s beginning, there are still some concerns.

“What we found and other communities have found with various projects is that through COVID, and supply chain issues, I call it COVID inflation, by the time you get your grant approved, the price has gone up substantially,” said Powalinsky.

Per the grant stipulations, recipients are responsible for any additional costs that may come up.

“However, these funds are essentially going to make this a viable project for the Town of Kinistino, and as we all know with landfill management, whether it’s bringing it up to speed or decommissioning it or what have you, it’s a reality and it’s a very costly reality, so it’s going to be huge for our little town,” he added.

Under the contractual obligation, the project has to be completed by March, 31 of 2026.

With the project potentially beginning this spring, the town is hopeful that it will be completed before then.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8