FOI Shows Reason Why Union Hospital Debris Dumped At City Yard
By Robert Thomas
The need to extend the life of the landfill appears to be the reason why a large amount of demolition debris - bricks and cement - from the former Moose Jaw Union Hospital ended up in the City’s High Street Yards. Although who ultimately authorized the free dumping of materials there remains a mystery.
In documents obtained through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request by MJ Independent a series of emails within the Engineering and Planning Departments stress the need to divert the maximum amount of demolition debris away from the landfill and to the City yards south of High Street West.
In an April 22, 2016 email Jordan Clayson of Graham Construction and Engineering wrote the City had requested stockpiling all concrete, brick and asphalt at the City yards.
“Regarding disposal of demolition materials, early in the planning stages of the MJUH demolition, the City was involved in planning meetings/ and it was requested by the City that all concrete, brick/ and asphalt material be stockpiled at the City-designated site on High Street, just to the south of the City stockpiles. This direction was agreed to by all parties,” Clayson wrote.
Graham Design Builders LP served as the Five Hills Regional Health Authority’s (FHRHA) contact on the demolition as part of the contract for the construction of the new hospital in Moose Jaw. FHRHA was responsible for the demolition of the Union Hospital.
The need to extend the landfill’s life and divert the majority of the demolition debris to the City yards and not the landfill is referenced in an e-mail exchange between City employees and Clayson.
In an April 26th email former manager of engineering Colin Prang wrote his concerns to Virginia Shepley, with a carbon copy to director of planning Michelle Sanson, about the large amount of material - bricks and concrete - ending up in the landfill and there were concerns “that they are not spending adequate time sorting this material.”
Shepley would email Clayson stating “due to the size of the project the hospital demolition largely impacts the capacity of the landfill…we just wanted to reinforce the majority of brick and concrete should be going to the city recycling yards.”
Clayson would respond less than an hour later that every effort was being made to divert all brick and concrete from the landfill to the City’s recycling yard as the disposal costs were cheaper and in the FHRHA’s best interest to do so.
“Furthermore/ the demolition contractor is aware of the higher disposal costs associated with hauling heavy material such as brick and concrete to the landfill, and are therefore making ever/ effort to minimize the amount of such material being disposed of at the landfill. While we cannot guarantee that the material being disposed of in the landfill is completely brick- or concrete-free/ as per previous conversations with the City and in our own best interest, we are continuing to make all reasonable efforts to haul as much of the brick and concrete material as possible to the City recycling yard,” Clayson wrote.
Doug Dahl, a communications officer with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), said under a 2012 agreement with the City the FHRHA was repsonsible for the demolition of the former Union Hospital.
The 2012 agreement between FHRHA and the City included the property for the new hospital and the right of first refusal for the City of Moose Jaw to purchase the old hospital property.
“As part of the terms of the contract, FHRHA required proper handling and disposal of all materials for the demolition. The FHRHA (now part of the Saskatchewan Health Authority) is satisfied that all materials, including hazardous materials, were properly and legally handled including the disposal of waste materials,” he wrote to MJ Independent.
As part of the agreement the City agreed to charge FHRHA the standard - and not premium - fee for all materials hauled to the City refuse grounds (see photo below).
The SHA referred any questions about the dumping fees - charged or not charged - back to the City of Moose Jaw.
Excerpt from the contract between the City and Five Hills Regional Health Authority
Emails released also show then a relative newcomer to the City’s Administration former City Manager Matt Noble was sent the contract and was asked to study and get up to speed from Section V in a June 9, 2014 email. The email does not state the reason why.
No contract was released detailing the agreement reached to waive dumping fees for debris hauled to the City yards.
During budget discussions surrounding a new initiative into recycling cement and asphalt into a reusable and saleable product the question was asked if the City had charged a fee to dump Union Hospital demolition debris at the City Yards.
SEE RELATED - Reclaimed Materials Initiative and Question Asked If Dumping Fees Charged
At the January 13, 2020 regular meeting of Council an enquiry revealed the amount of money the City received for Union Hospital debris was $36,384.80 prompting Councillor Brian Swanson to state the City has missed a major revenue source and the answer showed the debris at the City Yards had been dumped free of charge.