Iqaluit seeks proposal for long-term dump fix

City hall is getting serious about a permanent replacement of Iqaluit’s jam-packed, and flammable, landfill.

The city has put out a request for proposals looking for a “preliminary design for new municipal solid waste management facilities in the City of Iqaluit,” according to a document on the city’s website.

Meaghan Leach, Iqaluit’s director of engineering and sustainability, said the winning proposal must give council a range of landfill options, including recycling, composting and incineration.

The proposal also has to include options for a decommissioning plan for the bursting-at-the-seams West 40 landfill, which caught fire and burned for about a month earlier this fall.

Leach said the Nunavut Water Board has ordered the city to develop a plan for decommissioning the West 40 landfill.

Proposals are due by Dec. 3. Leach city staff hope to bring the winning bid forward for council approval at the Dec. 14 meeting and have the study completed by next fall.