On August 22, the Régie intermunicipale de valorisation organique (RIVMO) adopted a borrowing bylaw for close to $37 million for its proposed composting complex project in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
A $10-million grant from the Ministère de l’Environnement will cover part of the project, while the remainder of the associated costs will be assumed in proportion to the population of the two MRCs that make up the RIVMO: 75 per cent by Roussillon and 25 per cent by Beauharnois-Salaberry.
At least $1.36 million from the loan will be used to acquire the land for the complex, which is located on the Rue Des Érables on the site of the former Salaberry-de-Valleyfield landfill. The land is situated very close to the city’s water treatment plant, which will facilitate the treatment of water produced as part of the process.
Most of the expenses relate to the development of the site, including the installation of concrete slabs, a garage, administrative offices, a building with aerated cells, and the acquisition of equipment such as wheel loaders, rotary screeners, etc.
The complex will use two main techniques: aerated cells and windrows. It will be able to process up to 45,000 tonnes of organic matter each year for the 18 municipalities that make up the RIVMO, representing a population of 261,000.
Between 2019 and 2022, Roussillon and Beauharnois-Salaberry collected 87,000 tonnes of organic matter, which is well below the processing capacity of the future complex. This surplus capacity will enable to RIVMO to extend its services to neighbouring municipalities.
The construction of the regional compost complex will also reduce the greenhouse gases generated by the disposal of organic matter, which is currently being shipped to the Lachute region.
A call for tenders for the construction of the complex is expected to go out by the end of the year. Work is expected to start in the spring of 2025, while the commissioning of the new site is scheduled for late 2025.
The RIVMO board of directors includes six mayors from the two MRCs, including chair Sylvain Payant of Saint-Isidore, and vice-chair Miguel Lemieux of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, as well as Alain Dubuc (Beauharnois), Lise Poissant (Saint-Mathieu), Jean-Claude Boyer (Saint-Constant), and Yves Daoust (Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague).
The board had originally planned on using biomethanization technology to treat organic waste, with the goal of recovering the methane gas produced as a source of energy. Unfortunately, the call for tenders for this project resulted in a lowest bid of $140 million, which was almost double the budget. Simple composting was chosen as a result.