The town of Altona and Municipality of Rhineland are conducting a pilot project that aims to address the soapstock issue at the Altona/Rhineland landfill site.

Soapstock is a byproduct generated through the refinement of raw vegetable oil.

The industrial waste was created by the old Bunge Canada crush facility in Altona and dumped at the landfill over a period of several years. There is an estimated 40,000 cubic metres of the gelatin like material contained in two small cells at the landfill.

The province now wants the material removed or neutralized in some way, because it's considered a contaminated site and it poses a hazard to wildlife.

Altona CAO Dan Gagne says both municipalities have come up with a plan to deal with the soapstock.

"We've started a small test project back in spring before the thaw. We transferred some of the frozen material into the formerly closed part of the active cell and buried it, and now with the hotter weather, we are just waiting to see how that will settle in now that it has thawed."

The test project will continue into the fall at which time an assessment will be made to determine the success of the initiative.

Officials with the department of Sustainable Development will be anxious to see how this test project works out, according to Gagne.

"They would like to see the end result after a long hot summer. They want to see if material will settle in, and if things look positive, we can then begin to work on a longer term plan to see if this is a possible solution".

Of course there are costs associated with removing the soapstock material, which is why Altona and Rhineland administration is trying to convince Bunge Canada to partner in this initiative.

"I think Bunge is waiting to see if this pilot project will be successful. If it meets the province's standards, then I think they'd be willing to talk about participation on the project."