Loads of material from the Courtenay Walmart were refused by staff at the waste management centre near Cumberland after a fire in the store this weekend.
After a fire in the store on Thursday evening last week, Comox Valley Regional District General Manager of Engineering Services Marc Rutten said that three loads of material from the store were brought to the Cumberland landfill.
"It's always hard to know what Walmart intends to do, because they just hire a local hauler to haul the material away," he said. "But our understanding was that more and more trucks were going to come. Our manager stepped in an said that potentially some of the material is able to be reused, repurposed, donated or at least recycled, and that we wouldn't be able to accept loads of what appears to be good material."
Rutten said the CVRD opened up a conversation with the haulers, local companies GFL Environmental and Belfor Restoration — both hired by the Walmart — to provide a waste management plan and give the regional district "a better understanding that this material is trying to be recycled or repurposed, and not just coming to the landfill."
Rutten said that most of the material that came to the landfill were brand new textiles with tags that appeared to be "in perfect condition." He did say that smoke damage and damage from chemical fire extinguishers can be difficult to detect just by looking at the item.
"We have to be careful that we're not just arbitrarily refusing material," he said. "We wanted to ensure they had considered other options like re-purposing or donating, not just dumping good material."
Rutten also said that there was food in the material that was up for disposal.
"Our understanding is that for any food that had perished or was contaminated, they initially planned to just dump it," he said. "But we encouraged them to de-package it and put it into the composting system that we have."
He also said uncontaminated food was being donated to the local food bank.
"We do know that the waste is not coming to our landfill," Rutten said. "We also know it's not going to any other landfill. I'm encouraged by that."
"While the store is not a total loss, it did receive significant damage," a statement from Walmart Canada says. "To date, we have only sent fresh food and some general merchandise directly impacted by the fire to landfill.
"This impacted product was deemed unsafe for consumption and usage, respectively," the statement continues. "At the same time, we continue to evaluate our options to make as small an impact on the environment as possible. This includes discussions with the local food bank to determine if there are any products appropriate and safe for donation."
