Nose Plugs Not Included

I toured a composting facility. Voluntarily.

I made the decision during my third and final week in Whistler, B.C. Since my internship at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games was with Cleanevent ― the company contracted to handle snow, cleaning, and waste removal at the mountain venues ― I deemed it only appropriate to educate myself to the greatest extent possible about the journey undertaken by the immense volume of waste generated at an event as substantial as the Olympics. 

When I arrived at the Whistler Compost Facility I was under the impression that a tour had been prearranged for me by one of the Cleanevent managers. Although that turned out not to be the case, I was received warmly by Patrick Mulholland, the Compost Operations Manager, and immediately shown around anyhow.

Prior to committing to the site visit I had been warned by Cleanevent staff that “it smells really bad”. Apparently that is Australian for “you have never smelt a stronger, more foul odor in your life”. Upon entering into the compound, my senses were flooded by the aroma of baking biosolids and fermenting food waste. I tried to cough the smell out of my nose and lungs, but it stuck like the stench of a skunk’s spray on the hottest day of the year, so I sealed my nostrils tightly closed like a camel and resolved to breath solely through my mouth for the duration of the tour. The scent alone was enough to make me never want to generate any sort of waste ever again.

Pre-composted material, a mixture of food and biological waste, plus wood chips

 The facility was opened in December of 2008 at a cost of $1.5 million to accommodate the compostable material produced by the town of Whistler, and had since contracted with the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) to receive their waste, as well. Also on the property is the Whistler Transfer Station, which collects items such as untreated wood, metal, tires, and drywall for recycling.

Patrick began our tour by explaining the special compost recipe they have been developing since the facility became operational; he spoke with complete ease and expertise, demonstrating that he was a true scientist and not just the friendly neighborhood trash collector. The proportions of the compost mixture have had to be readjusted and tweaked to produce the best results, but they currently stand at a ratio of 2,300 pounds of biosolids to 1,000 pounds of food waste to 3,000 – 5,000 pounds of wood chips. The correct balance is necessary in order to control the moisture, which needs to be at levels of 60% or below.

Another important factor to control before the process begins is the purity of the substances. Patrick explained that the compostable waste arriving from VANOC is considerably contaminated, and about 20% must be thrown out as garbage and enter the landfill instead. He showed me the section of the conveyer belt at which one of his employees must stand elbow-deep in waste, hand-picking out as much garbage as he can while it slides past. It was not in operation at the time of my visit, but I glanced around at the strapping young men buzzing busily about the complex and couldn’t help but wonder who the unlucky fellow was that got stuck on filter duty the most.

I had seen first-hand the waste management system employed by VANOC. They were not simply placing trash cans throughout the venues, but rather a small army of receptacles were clustered at each station consisting of: two compostable bins, clearly marked with green lids and a graphic illustrating what items qualified as compostable; one black bin for general waste, also labeled with a picture; and a Coke recycling barrel with a red lid whose opening was only big enough to fit a plastic bottle.

Early on, as the VANOC waste began to be collected and analyzed, the data showed that contamination was still high and that only about half of the waste was being diverted from landfills, rather than the goal of 85%. In an attempt to dummy-proof the system even more, Cleanevent employees at each venue created bigger signs, onto which they taped the actual items that belonged in each receptacle, making it even clearer that all the utensils, plates, and cups could in fact be composted, and that plastic wrappers could not.

Dummy-proof sign developed by Cleanevent staff

 Even our best efforts, however, could not save that poor soul from the purification process. After the contaminating garbage is picked out and a giant magnet removes metal objects, the conveyor belt dumps the waste  into a tray that holds about 8,000 pounds. The plant processes roughly fourteen to sixteen of these trays daily, taking them into a 265 foot tunnel where they are first held for three days at a temperature of 70°C to kill all pathogens and bugs.

The composting material continues to move slowly through the tunnels for a full fourteen days, while the crew monitors the temperature with probes and ensures proper ventilation. It is essential that enough oxygen can flow through so that CO2 is generated, not methane gas as is produced by landfills. At the midway point in the process, spinners break up the waste so that it does not become too compacted.

At the end of the two weeks all traces of that horrid, rotten smell have fled the compost and a clean, earthy odor has taken up residence in its place. The output is blended with sand to drain some excess moisture, and can then be sold as soil.

Although the selling of the soil allows for some cost-recovery, the facility is by no means self-sustaining. Just as utilities, the capital expenditure is huge for an operation like this. The revenue from soil sales, even along with the dumping fees and the average of $1,000 per week from tin can returns, can hardly make a dent in the costs of operations. The municipality recognizes the environmental benefit of diverting this waste from landfills, however, and that alliance permits the project to continue.

Though my employment foray in the waste industry was brief, the educational component was invaluable. I now recycle even more aggressively than before, and plan to have my own composting system once I have a housing situation that allows for it. I am also taking a pledge to support legislation that advocates for sustainable waste treatment. After all, there are a crew of guys in Whistler who tolerate a sickening stench day in and day out just to do their part in helping our Earth. Are you going to spit in their coffee?

Venue Tour - Athletes' Village

The Athlete's Village is located about 15 minutes south of the center of Whistler. Perched atop a former landfill, 80% of the homes were sold at an auction before they were even built. This "venue" is definitely counted among the successes of the Vancouver 2010 Games, coming in under budget and successfully converting the methane gas produced by a nearby waste facility to provide 80% of the energy used.

All the houses have garages and driveways, but the athletes are not allowed to have their own cars during the Games to cut down on carbon emissions and encourage the use of public (or at least shared) transportation. Also, the kitchens in the houses have not yet been installed in order to force the athletes to eat in the dining tent. This ensures that the caterers' food does not go to waste, and encourages social interactions by the athletes.

Here are some exterior photos of the athletes' sweet digs.

Little Italy of the Athletes' Village!

L-R: Chile, Iceland, South Africa

New Zealand

Me with the moose in Team Canada's neighborhood!

USA!

In addition to the actual houses where the athletes live, there are other buildings providing anything the athletes may need...

One of the buildings that features many amenities to cater to the athletes.
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Classy black leather furniture was standard around WVL

There is a "water bar" for the athletes - how cool is that!?!

 

Chef de Mission tent - where meetings are held, not where press conferences take place

There is a hostel in the WVL (which I intend to stay in when I return to Whistler) that includes a T.V. room (pictured below), a mini movie theater, an interfaith worship center, internet stations, and other amenities in addition to guest rooms.

T.V. viewing room

Laptop station in the front part of the hostel. The windows look out into the WVL.

To give you more a sense of of the WVL, here's a map of the entire venue:

Areas 10, 4, 3, 11, and 17 are where the houses are. The parts printed in a lighter gray are back-of-house.

This section shows some more of the athletes' areas, including their retail shops (such as their own Olympic merchandise store, a bank and a post office), their recreation and leisure center, and the hostel.

I Love Information

Yesterday we toured the Media Center, which is housed in the Whistler Convention Center in the center of the town. We saw the public press areas in the front, and nearby there were rows and rows of documents of information organized alphabetically by sport, and then labeled according to the topic of the document. My eyes went straight to the Luge section, which still had papers sitting in the cubbies despite the fact that luge competition had ended last week.

Excited by the potentially valuable information those documents contained, I got our tour guide (a Cleanevent team leader) to snag me one of every document we dared to take, since we weren’t sure if we’d get in trouble if caught. The pieces I took contain lots of background information about the sport and the Sliding Center, as well as some Games News. I ranked the Flash Quotes and Press Conference transcripts lowest on my list of priorities, so we abandoned those in favor of quitting while we were ahead. I might ask Sara to get some more next time she goes to work…

The most interesting document, i.e., the one containing the most random facts, is “Luge by the Number”. The following are some highlights.

•    153.93 – top speed in km/h reached in Men’s Luge on the Whistler Sliding Center track
•    104.6 – cost in millions of Canadian dollars to build the Whistler Sliding Center track
•    65 – number of Olympic medals won in Luge events [out of a possible 108] by German competitors since 1964. Twenty-nine were won under the banner of East Germany, 10 by West Germany, and 26 as Germany (GER).
•    46.808 – time in seconds of the Men’s Singles Luge course record at the Whistler Sliding Center, set by Felix Loch (GER) during a World Cup run on February 21, 2009.
•    14 – a total of 14 different Luge competitors at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games have a relative also competing in a Luge event.
•    8 – birthdays celebrated by four females and four male Luge athletes during the Vancouver Games
•    2.5 – average thickness in centimeters of the ice on the Whistler Sliding Center track. Depending on the turn and the sport, the thickness can range from two to five cm.
•    -5 – temperature, in degrees Celsius, that ice makers try to maintain for the Whistler Sliding Center track, the ideal temperature for achieving the fastest speeds with the most consistency.

Okay, I understand that you aren’t all as obsessed with Luge as I have become, so I’ll add some more photos from my tour of the Media Center.

A floor plan showing part of the building and where each media broadcaster is housed. Some of these offices, such as Canadian Olympic Committee, have leather couches and refridgerators.

You cannot imagine the sheer volume of cords that run all through this place. The cages had to be built to sustain the weight, and this isn’t even one of the thickest bundles!

We got to sit at THE press conference table! Some OBS guys came in and out while we were there, but they couldn’t have cared less.

There is no assigned seating in here – all the media just comes in and picks whatever vantage point they want.

I got to stand outside NBC’s room!

Fun Facts About the WSC

Sorry folks, no creative title for this one. It's pretty slow in the office today, despite the inch or two of wet snow that fell from early this morning until about 9:45AM. While Scott was using the computer I poked around the office a bit (after my coffee break, during which I watched some curling. The Norwegians have awesome diamond-checkered pants!) and pulled out the binder of the Opertations Manual for the Sliding Center. To go along with my unoriginal title, I will now quote the Overview information about the WSC; I don't have the motivation to paraphrase it, especially since it's mostly quick bullets anyway. Anything I add will be in [brackets].

Introduction:

• The Whistler Sliding Center is one of only 16 international competition sliding tracks in the world
• It has the highest vertical drop from top to low point of any track in the world - 152 meters
• Track G-force is expected to reach 5.02Gs (men's luge) [This will actually be lower since Men's Start was moved down to Women's Start, and the women will start from Novice/Junior Start]
• A thin, two to five centimeter ice surface is produced and maintained by hand
• Construction began in June 2005, with the track being operationally complete in winter 2007-2008. The formal public opening took place in fall 2008

Bobsleigh:

• Part of the official competition program since the first Olympic Winter games in Chamonix in 1924
• Women's bobsleigh was introduced at the Salt Lake City 2002 Olypmic Winter Games
• The five-man bobsleigh was contested for the first and last time at the St. Moritz 1928 Olympic Winter Games
• Following a sprint start, the bobsled travels down the track on four higly polished steel runners. Sleds are equipped with breaks

Luge

• Luge made its Olympic debut in 1964 in Innsbruck
• Luge athletes start in a seated position, gripping start handles to propel themselves down a steep start ramp. They use gloves with small spikes on the fingertips to push themselves along the ice before laying feet first, on their backs
• Luge athletes steer with their legs and shoulders by applying pressure to the sled runners

Skeleton

• Skeleton first appeared at the 1928 Olympic Winter Games and then again in 1948, both times in St. Moritz. The sport returned to the Olympic Winter Game program in 2002 in Salt Lake City.
• Skeleton athletes [lay on their stomaches, going head first, and] steer with their shoulders and knees by applying pressure to the sled.
• There are no brakes on a skeleton sled

Post-Games Use

The Whistler Sliding Center will be operated under the direction of the Whistler Legacies Society, supported by an endowment trust that was established by the federal and provincial governments as part of their 2010 Winter Games venues investment. The Whistler Sliding Center will showcase sliding sports by hosting international competitions and developing sliding sports opportunities in the local communities. Its location, near several of the resort's world-class hotels, will attract many tourists, providing a sustainable revenue stream towards the center's long-term opperations.

VANOC Investment

The Whistler Sliding Center was built at a cost of $104.6 million, funded jointly by the governments of Canada and British Columbia

Sustainable Attributes

• Smart site selection - adjacent to previously developed areas within a major ski area (such as ski trails, parking lots)
• Site designed to minimize required vegetation clearing and to reduce the facility footprint (such as soft edging and tree islands)
• Long-term operations and revenue generation opportunities through athlete training facility and visitor use
• First construction contract (2005) awarded to local Whistler business
• Energy efficiency initiatives to minimize refridgeration plant energy include
• Ammonia refridgeration system. Ammonia is one of the most energy-efficient refridgerants producing no chloroflourocarbons (which contribute to ozone-layer depletion and global climate change)
• Track shading and weather protection system
• Tree retention to cast shade
• Track painted white to minimize heat absorbtion
• Capture and reuse of waste heat from refidgeration plant

Scope of Work for 2010

The venue features a new 1,450-meter competition-length concrete sliding track, refridgeration facilities, support buildings and access road. The Whistler Sliding Center will host Sport Events for bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton. Over the 13 days of sliding competition, athletes will compete for a total of 8 Olympic medals [Men's/Women's Single Luge, Men's Double Luge, Men's/Women's Skeleton, Men's 2-Man Bobsleigh, Men's/Women's 4-Person Bobsleigh].


I think really think the Sliding Center is pretty cool, and I when I visit other venues I'll look for their manual and try to pull out some fun facts for those venues too!

Venue Tour – WOP

Welcome to WOP!

The inukshuk at the bus stop at the Ski Jump

Our first venue tour as part of Cleanevent Academy was the Whistler Olympic Park, better known as WOP. This site has four different areas – the Main Transportation Area (non-competition), Ski Jump, Cross-Country Skiing, and Biathlon.

Map of Whistler Olympic Park

Spectators will come to the Main Transportation Area either by BC Transit bus or by car, the latter of which must be parked in one of four lots outside the security checkpoint. From the security line, a coach bus (different from the BC Transit bus) will take people up to the Ski Jump area and drop them off. From there, they can either walk into that venue or take one of two other buses to see either Cross-Country Skiing or Biathlon.

We visited the Cross-Country Skiing site first. Five years ago, it was just the heavily-forested Callahan Valley. The majority of the trees had to be cleared, trails had to be blazed, and the course had to be built. After the Games, all the buildings will be taken down and trees will be replanted, but the trails will remain open to the public for use as part of the “legacy” of the site. In addition to skiing in the winter, the trails will probably be used by mountain-bikers in the summer.

Our second stop was the Biathlon course. This is an interesting event that I’m just beginning to understand a little more about. The athletes first do several laps of their cross-country skiing course, then stand to shoot their rifles at targets the size of baseballs. They proceed to do some more laps, then lay on their stomachs to shoot targets the size of golf balls. The catch is that for every target they miss, they have to ski another lap.

What makes biathlon even more difficult is what happens to the athlete’s body. Obviously cross-country skiing is a physically demanding sport and it therefore increases the heart rate. For shooting, it is ideal to have a slow heart rate, steady breathing, and a clear mind to focus on aim. Biathlon competitors don’t have the advantage of the first two elements, which makes the third all the harder to achieve.

The Ski Jump venue was last on our agenda. This competition will be the first event, yielding the first medals of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Games. Each skier gets two runs off the jump – just two runs to prove their ability.

Despite what it looks like on T.V., skiers do not get launched up into the air in ski jumping. The top part of the run has groves for the skis to rest in, and then right at the lip of the jump there is a 10 degree declining slope; the skiers don’t go up, but rather the ground just drops away, creating an optical illusion. We were lucky enough to be able to see some women practicing their runs.

At the foot of the ski jump during a practice session

Volunteers are packing down the snow on the ski jump between runs. The dots crossing the path are the meter markers

Our Cleanevent Academy instructor, Scott Williams (not to be confused with the WSC venue manager, Scott Parnell), stressed to us how cool it will be to see events happening here – either in person or on T.V. – after having seen the behind-the-scenes action before the venue was opened to spectators. The camp and the employee break rooms at all the venues have T.V.s that will be broadcasting the coverage, so I hope I get to see some of each event throughout the Games.

I Take A Gondola To Work

Today was FINALLY my first day of work, at the Whistler Sliding Center (WSC). I took the 7:00AM Cleanevent shuttle to Function Junction, then hopped the #2 bus up to the top of Whistler Village. From there we had two options to get to the WSC, but bus #77 was certainly not as appealing as taking the gondola (glass-enclosed ski lift) up the mountain. Already, I loved my venue.

From inside my gondola, looking at another

Interns from University of South Carolina have already been here for a month, stationed at each venue, and are responsible for training us. Nikki is the intern at the WSC, and she is basically the assistant to the Cleanevent venue manager, an awesome laid-back American named Scott.

Our main responsibility is manning the Helpdesk at our assigned venue. This is where calls relating to our cleaning / snow removal services are directed; we answer the phones, gather information about the cleaning need, and then radio the employees assigned to that part of our venue and instruct them to take care of the situation. At the WSC, there are five "areas", but our team is generally broken down into three groups. Area 1 is the top of the venue, where the Mens' and Womens' Start are. Areas 2, 3, and 4 are the mid-track, including where the Finish Dock and Olympic Family Viewing Tent are. At the bottom are Lots 7 and 8 - Lot 7 includes our office and the Worker Break Tent (where we eat), and Lot 8 is home to the Media Center and storage shed for the athletes' equipment.  

After dispatching our employees to take out the trash, vacuum the rug, shovel a walkway, or whatever else the caller might need, we enter the details of the "issue" into the Cleanevent database, so much of my training today was how to use the CMS system (I believe it stands for Cleanevent Management System). I was also able to walk around with Nikki to the Finish Dock, and later in the afternoon we took the shuttle up to the top starting area, which is about 1.5 miles up an extremely steep mountain (hence the need for the shuttle).

There will be two other interns working at the WSC besides myself and Nikki, including Holly from JWU Providence. Since that's more staff than is really necessary, on Friday we're going to work out our schedules around what competition events and concerts we'd like to go to. Each site is issued a certain number of 2nd Part Passes to the venue, and when there are extras other CE employees/interns have the opportunity to get into the venues for the events. Also since we will have extra interns on our venue, we'll be able to each take about 30-45 minutes to walk up and check out the action while on shift.

One other thing I enjoyed about the WSC today was the international diversity of the staff. At lunch today there was an Australian guy, a German girl, a Swiss girl, and a couple of French guys. There are a few more Australians, another Frenchman, and a Czech that I know of who are assigned to our venue as well, and I think the employees will be shifting around during the Games a bit according to the need of a particular venue on any given day.

Tomorrow I have a venue tour of WOP - the Whistler Olympic Park (cross-country skiing, biathlon, ski jumping, and nordic combined), followed by class. Thursday I'm back at WSC, but Nikki has class so Holly and I will be "in charge", after one day of training each! Should be an adventure...

Here are a few shots of the venue that I got today. I saw a few athletes around, including some Italians, a German, and a bunch of Czechs, but not in great picture range.

The official emblem in the ice at Mens' Start

One of the turns

Looking down the track

This is down by the finish. The athletes get going so fast that in order to slow down, they have to loop around and go back uphill quite a ways before they lose enough momentum to stop, so they actually come up from the bottom of this picture.