• New provincial recycling program stirs grumblings in northern Alberta community

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-10-15 19:54:15.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Municipal, Environment, Infrastructure]

  Following the implementation of Alberta's provincially-mandated Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) framework, management of packaging and paper products shifted to the not-for-profit organization Circular Materials on October 1, 2026. In the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, collection services are now serviced by Collective Waste Solutions Inc., with approximately 38,000 old municipal bins collected and stored at the regional landfill between September 22 and October 6. Residents in communities like Fort McMurray have experienced operational disruptions, including delayed blue cart deliveries and uncollected legacy bins remaining on properties.

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• Jasper wildfire recovery: the complex rebuild happening above and below the town's streets two years on from disaster

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-10-14 17:30:21.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Municipal, Infrastructure, Housing, Emergency, Environment]

  Two years following the July 2024 wildfires, the Municipality of Jasper continues its infrastructure and housing recovery efforts, spearheaded by Director of Recovery Douglas Olthof. The federal and Alberta governments announced $7.9 million on September 1 to recommission a wastewater lagoon, addressing storage capacity and flood risks. Recovery initiatives include property-specific soil testing supported by Parks Canada and the Canadian Red Cross, municipal neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood upgrades to curb stops and shut-off valves, and the addition of 45 new housing units through a newly approved apartment building. Concurrently, the municipality has launched a public Town Plan survey via engagejasper.ca, active until October 25, to replace the 2011 Jasper Community Sustainability Plan and guide future development.

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• 'AI is here to stay': Cherry-picking Glubish tells concerned Grande Prairie crowd to call their MLAs about data centres

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-09-17 15:32:29.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Technology, Energy, Environment, Infrastructure, Municipal]

  Approximately 300 residents attended a contentious Sept. 11 town hall in Grande Prairie regarding the proposed 65-square-kilometre Wonder Valley AI data centre project backed by Kevin O'Leary. Alberta's Minister of Technology and Innovation, Nate Glubish, defended the initiative by stating artificial intelligence is here to stay and pointing to a closed cooling system meant to mitigate water use from the Smoky River. However, local participants and critics, including resident Casey Klein and SAIT research scientist Dr. Robert Davies, raised concerns that the facility—which holds interim and preliminary municipal licences to draw up to 6 million and 24 million cubic metres of water annually—would impose cumulative environmental impacts through thermal energy emissions, low-frequency fan noise, and heavy resource exploitation within the Municipal District of Greenview and the Peace Country Region.

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• Who's responsible for Horseshoe Creek? It depends who you ask

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-09-06 18:11:55.0
  Tags: [Alberta, Municipal, Infrastructure, Environment]

  Heavy rains washed out the 137 Avenue bridge at Horseshoe Creek in northwest Edmonton in July 2026, forcing a multi-million-dollar repair and expanding a $2.7 million project. Mayor Andrew Knack stated that planned road and culvert work by the City of Edmonton, developer Rohit, and Epcor was delayed in spring 2024 following a provincial Order in Council adding 238 hectares to the Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park. The Ministry of Forestry and Parks maintains it has not yet received a formal application from the cities of Edmonton and St. Albert for the roadwork, while St. Albert transportation manager Dean Schick asserts the project falls under provincial jurisdiction. Meanwhile, Epcor replaced an inadequate 800-millimetre culvert with a 2,000-mm version, returning the site to the City of Edmonton on August 31, 2026, to complete repairs expected to take nine weeks.

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• City to debate $114.58 million in climate mitigation actions in four-year budget talks

  Source: Alberta - Edmonton Journal (Legislature & Capital)
  Date: 2026-09-03 22:01:58.0
  Tags: [Municipal, Alberta, Environment, Climate, Infrastructure, Finance]

  The Edmonton City Council Executive Council unanimously passed motions to advance $114.58 million in climate mitigation actions for consideration during the upcoming four-year budget deliberations, down from a total proposed package of $257 million. The package includes four no-cost immediate actions—such as exploring alternative funding options and working with Epcor to improve electrical grid resilience—along with eight actions headed to December budget talks, including funding for energy-efficient buildings under the Canada Greener Homes Affordability Program and fleet decarbonization. Additional proposals include $5 million to support community climate initiatives, $5 million to fund the Alberta Ecotrust Foundation's Climate Fund Endowment, and exploring the daylighting of urban creeks like Mill Creek with Epcor.

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