Harmac Pacific Pulp Mill, Nanaimo British Columbia

XCG was retained by Harmac Pacific to complete the design, and provide services during construction for a lined expansion of the pulp mill landfill.

The Harmac Pulp Mill Landfill is owned and operated by Harmac Pacific, A Division of Nanaimo Forest Products. The site includes a pulp mill, pulp waste landfill, and operational infrastructure. The landfill accepts the solid waste produced by the pulp mill processes.

XCG was retained by Harmac Pacific to complete the design, and provide services during construction for a lined expansion of the pulp mill landfill with leachate collection, perimeter berm, and surface water drainage. The lined expansion was approximately 14 hectares in area. The design included grading for base and perimeter berms, high density polyethylene geomembrane, geotextiles, clear stone drainage layer, leachate collection piping, cleanouts, and 750-millimetre diameter surface water collection pipe. 

The scope of work included the following: 

1. A design brief to establish the design criteria for the project to meet regulatory requirements; meet best practices and achieve the goals of the client; present and illustrate the preferred conceptual design; and provide all of the pertinent information that shows how the conceptual design achieves the projects goals. The objectives of the design were to: optimize the landfill capacity, balance the cut and fill volumes and limit the volume of bedrock excavation, accommodate surface water drainage from future landfill expansions; and improve leachate collection by constructing a geomembrane lined area and perimeter berm along the west of the landfill. 

2.  Completion of 100% design including drawings and specifications for all components of the design; Construction Oversight, including on-site construction inspection and quality control during construction of the landfill liner components; and, Post-construction Services, including prepare as-recorded drawings for the works.

In addition to the design and construction services, XCG also assists Harmac Pacific with the preparation  of the groundwater monitoring component of the Annual Landfill Report for submission to the British Columbia Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change Strategy. This submittal include XCG’s assessment of monitoring well water quality for comparison to regulatory criteria and trend assessment,  water level and groundwater flow direction mapping and provision of recommendations as appropriate. As per XCG’s recommendations, new monitoring wells will be installed on the landfill 2022 to provide supplemental  information related to water quality, water levels, groundwater flow patterns and hydraulic gradients.