Leachate Leakage

In fact there are at least two pieces of evidence which show that there is in fact a massive amount of leakage.

1. By calculating the amount of water going into the mini-landfill via rainfall statistics, and checking that against the amount that is captured, if there were no leak, the two measurements would be the same. But when the volume of water calculated from the amount of rain falling on the area is compared to the amount that is retrieved, there is a massive discrepancy. About 1/3 of the rainwater is not being captured. Catalyst measures the amount being pumped out, but does not release that information to Ministry of Environment.

2. Each time Powell River water is tested by the mill, there are pollutants present. As the aquifer passes below the landfill it picks up polluted leachate that enters the river through the layer of fractured rock below the surface of the river and/or through the regional ground water table & springs. This layer of fractured rock (and the untested 39 meter deep aquifer & untested regional groundwater table) act as a system of pipes to conduct the missing leachate to the river. When you consider the massive effects of dilution of contaminants in river water that occurs from the approximately 100,000 cubic meters per day of waterflow, this shows that the source of contamination is persistent and significant. The company has known these results for years.