Armstrong, BC

2006 – Present Active Landfill Site Remediation – Phytoremediation System Objective

• Stop leachate from entering the ground water table
• Remediate the leachate produced from the active landfill
• Generate carbon credits

Initiative The project involved the engineering, commissioning, and maintaining a phytoremediation system that supports the Armstrong landfill site. A leachate collection pond was created and dispenser system installed. An area of a half hectare is planted and maintained.

Highlights NUMBERS NEED TO BE UPDATED 

• First Landfill in British Columbia to responsibly treat leachate using phytoremediation system
• The phytoremediation system has treated 6.8 million litres of leachate since 2006
• Carbon credits generated and sold

2017 Update: A new generation of poplar trees has been replanted on the site to continue leachate remediation work.

2013 Update: After 9 years of growth, the hybrid poplars continue to thrive. Though they are still more than capable of huge uptakes of leachate a day (more than 5000 gallons per day as a whole), 2013’s overall leachate absorption was not the highest throughout the project’s nine years due to product availability cutbacks. Daily leachate application changes were forced to be made as the storage pond dropped below acceptable levels. Despite that however, 196000 US gallons were remediated by the plantation at the Armstrong Landfill installation. Tests were conducted daily on the leachate pertaining to conductivity, pH and temperature. A minimum of 250 gallons of fresh water was pumped through the system every day to accommodate for the 20% fresh water to leachate ratio recommended for the trees. Also throughout the 2013 season, PRSI has utilized a state of the art Sustainability Performance Management tool to quantify, track and report its project activities based on the ISO 14064-1 GHG inventory standard. The ISO 14064 standard is part of the ISO 1400 series of International Standards for environmental management.