The fire at the ECCO recycling landfill site in Calgary’s southeast continues to burn after igniting two weeks ago.
The Calgary Fire Department has been working on containment and suppression operations in order to snuff out the blaze.
Clean fill materials have been brought to the site to compact what is burning within the landfill piles. However, it’s not without its challenges.
Calgary Fire Department Public Information Officer, Alex Kwan, says, “Just being able to reach certain areas in the middle of the pile is very challenging right now, still because of the slope. So it’s part of the plans to look at how can we better access those areas”.
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While crews maneuver around access points, a local resident is calling on The City of Calgary and the Government of Alberta for more action.
Aymie Rondeau lives in a community close to the landfill. She has launched a petition, following the fire and smoke that’s lingered in the neighbouring communities for two weeks.
In less than four days, the petition surpassed Aymie’s goal of 1,500 signatures.
In part, the petition calls for the ECCO recycling site to be decommissioned. It asks for transparent air-quality monitoring to be maintained. It also calls for the removal or remediation of the existing landfill.
Aymie says, “The expectation would be that they do not continue to accept new waste, just recycle whatever is there, and work towards an accelerated reclamation plan”.
Although the petition has reached its signature goal, Aymie says she plans to keep the petition page active so the cause can generate more support.
