To a company on the outside looking in, the City of Weyburn must seem to be a mass of contradictions.

On the one hand, there is much construction work going on in various locations around the city, some of it preparing for a new Wal-Mart store, some for installing new storm sewer lines, some for building new homes and some for a new long-term care facility.

At the same time there is an unprecedented amount of demolition occurring in the city, as historic and dilapidated facilities are coming down, including the old grandstand, the old creamery, and very shortly the Mitchell Block and the wooden Pioneer elevator on Railway Avenue.

In front of all this activity, the city has been embroiled in a controversy over a proposed non-hazardous waste site which would have provided the city with a healthy new revenue source - and in the end, the company, Hazco Environmental Services, was shown the door, and is now actively looking for an alternate site near to Weyburn.

In an interview, the president of Hazco, as an outsider looking in to our community, made a telling comment: "Weyburn has a bit of a history of rejecting new industry which has worked to their disadvantage."

This is an observation our council and residents need to take note of. Some residents will simply say "good riddance" when they hear Hazco has no interest in the city's alternate location on the south side of the landfill, but most residents will not want to be known to prospective companies as a city reluctant to allow new businesses or industries in to help build the economy.

The fact is the proposed site was for non-hazardous waste, not the malodorous toxic waste dump that opponents believed was going in, and it would have taken proper care of the contaminated soils brought in from the area's oil field. Most of the Hazco opponents may not be aware some of this soil is already coming into our landfill; this site would have segregated that soil and looked after it properly.

A lot of the soil would have nothing more toxic than salt water mixed into it. As any farmer will tell you, it's not toxic, but plants don't particularly like the salt; it makes good environmental sense to look after this soil by removing it from farm fields so they can grow again, and to rejuvenate the soil so it too can be restored to better use.

Now the economic benefits - described as a "pittance" by one opponent - will go to whichever lucky RM has the right plot of land available, with lots of clay that cannot be leached through. Considering the economic position of some RMs, this can only be viewed as good news for them. If a suitable site can be found, a regional landfill such as has been sought by area municipalities for the last few years may finally become a reality; that at least will benefit the city, and help it move the landfill away from the South Hill area as those residents have requested for many years. - G.N.