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ST. JOHN'S, N.L. —

Downtown snow removal will be more expensive this year because the city will follow federal regulations that it has been breaking for decades.

The city will no longer dump snow in St. John's harbour, and that means an increase in downtown snow removal costs of roughly $600,000 for 2020.

Council approved a tender to rent hired trucks at the regular Monday meeting, awarding the lowest bidder, Farrell’s Excavating Ltd., with a bid of $855,585.63.

The contractor will help the city truck snow from downtown to the Robin Hood Bay landfill, rather than have crews dump it into the harbour, as in previous years.

Mayor Danny Breen: “This is a regulation by the federal government. It’s not a choice that the city made. It’s a requirement, and there’s a significant cost to it.” - Juanita Mercer/The Telegram

In previous years, by dumping snow in the harbour, the city budgeted roughly $250,000 to $300,000 per year for downtown snow removal. To maintain the same level of service, but with the increase in distance the snow now has to be trucked, that cost will triple.

“The federal government has advised us that we’re no longer able to dump snow in the harbour,” Mayor Danny Breen told reporters.

“So, we’re going to have to truck it. Right now, we’re going to be trucking it to Robin Hood Bay, and so that will roughly triple our effort down there in terms of trucks.”

During the council meeting, Breen emphasized this was not the city’s decision.

“This is a regulation by the federal government. It’s not a choice that the city made. It’s a requirement, and there’s a significant cost to it.”

He said that last December the city was advised by the federal government that it would no longer be able to dump snow in the harbour as of this December.

Harbour dumping prohibited

The city has been saving money every year by disregarding Section 36(3) of the federal Fisheries Act, which prohibits the deposit of any deleterious substances in water frequented by fish unless authorized by federal regulations.

Breen acknowledged that snow cleared from city streets often includes such deleterious substances, such as plastic. Dumping such materials into the ocean is a violation of federal law that has been ongoing for decades.

“The federal government has been for some time concerned about this, and they finally issued us notice last year,” said Breen.

In January, The Telegram’s Rosie Mullaley spoke with Coun. Ian Froude about the violation.

At that time, Froude said the city was aware of the federal government rules and that the city didn’t have a permit to dump snow in the harbour.

“If we weren’t dumping snow that’s removed from the downtown into the harbour, then that has to be trucked somewhere that’s quite far away. So, there’s the cost of doing that,” Froude told Mullaley. “Then, the cost of burning fuel to move that volume of snow to an area that’s potentially quite far away.”

Froude also said the snow couldn’t be dumped just anywhere.

“It would have to be an engineered site with proper drainage because it would be a significant amount of snow.”

For now, though, it appears the city is stuck with one option — the Robin Hood Bay landfill.

Breen said the reason snow has to be trucked away from downtown streets is mainly for public safety. He said the city has to ensure emergency vehicles, such as fire trucks, can manoeuvre the downtown streets.

He also said there are commercial reasons for ensuring Water Street and Duckworth Street are not piled high with snowbanks.

Breen said the extra $600,000 is accounted for in the upcoming budget to be announced Dec. 9. As well, the added cost could actually be more or less, depending on how much snow falls.

Breen said contracting out the work is more cost-effective, but it is something that will be reviewed each year to determine whether the city should purchase more trucks or continue to contract out the work.

Twitter: @juanitamercer_

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