Hunt dumped as Metro's garbage man
Marvin Hunt will no longer be Metro Vancouver's point man on garbage and recycling issues.
The Surrey city councilllor has been dropped by board chair Lois Jackson as chair of Metro's waste management committee as well as a member of that committee.
Hunt has been at the forefront of the contentious debate on whether Metro should incinerate its garbage by building a new waste-to-energy plant in the region, ship local garbage to an Interior landfill or pursue different alternatives, like intensified recycling.
"We need some fresh eyes," said Jackson, who replaced nearly half the members of Metro's waste committee in a renewed drive to rewrite the region's long-delayed solid waste management plan this year.
"Marvin's been there for a long time and we've been having some difficulties concluding this file. Maybe some new ideas and a fresh look will assist us."
Hunt, Jackson and the majority of Metro's board had endorsed pursuit of a waste-to-energy strategy.
But that has been thrown into doubt by the province's approval this month of a major expansion of the existing Cache Creek landfill, which some view as a sign Metro's path to increased incineration will be blocked by Victoria.
Jackson said she isn't abandoning waste-to-energy as an option.
"We're still looking at all possible solutions," she said. "Everything is on the table until such time as we've had an opportunity to get input from the First Nations community and from the Fraser Valley community."
She said she also hopes Metro can answer "heavy criticism" from the Fraser Valley Regional District, which didn't feel adequately consulted.
Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore takes over as waste management committee chair.
The vice-chair of the waste committee is now Vancouver Coun. Heather Deal, who replaces West Vancouver Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones.
