
The Lower Nicola Eco Depot. (Photo via TNRD)
The Lower Nicola Eco Depot and landfill near Merritt is back open today after a fire early Saturday morning forced it to be closed over the weekend.
Jamie Vieira, the TNRD’s General Manager of Operations says the fire destroyed the central office building at the site on 2348 Woodward Road, just off of Highway 8, rendering the weigh scale inoperable for the time being.
“So for everyone out there using the site, tipping fees are still in effect but the attendants will be assessing it based on the volume of the load instead of the weight of the load,” Vieira said.
“We are able to take kind of the old-school payment methods of credit card through a manual machine and we can take a charge account of the eco card, but we cannot accept cash or debit cards at this time.”
Speaking on the NL Noon Report, Vieira says the fire doesn’t appear to be suspicious, though he pegged the damage at about $50,000. He also said it is too soon to say when the facility will be back to normal operations.
“There was no damage to the outside of the building, in terms of there was no evidence of break in or anything like that, so it looks like it started from the inside, perhaps an electrical cause,” Vieira added.
“The fire did not speak to any stockpiles or anything inside the landfill so there is no risk of any toxic smoke or anything like that.”
Vieira is asking for patience if they come to the Lower Nicola Eco Depot, noting repairs will be taking place in the weeks and months ahead, based on the availability of specialized equipment that was damaged.
“We’re hopefully going to have it up and running within a few weeks, but it depends on the good old supply chain challenges that we’ve had,” he said.
“The alternative site that is open everyday except Monday is the Logan Lake Eco Depot. It is open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 to 4, but operationally all material types, all the recyclable materials, as well as disposal services are back up and running at the Lower Nicola site as of this morning.”