2 September 2009
Council Won't Support Co-Generation Proposal
Kamloops British Columbia -
Non-support, opposition, or objection.
It doesn't matter how it's worded - Kamloops city council isn't endorsing the launch of an incinerator on Mission Flats Road.
Council unanimously agreed on Tuesday to write a letter to the Ministry of Environment outlining the various reasons why burning
250,000 creosote-treated railway ties per year doesn't sit well with them.
"It really boils down to not enough information. We're a little bit unsure of the new technologies," said Mayor Peter
Milobar.
"The bottom line is, we're not comfortable as a collective in supporting this application at this time and we felt we should send
this message to the Ministry of Environment at this time as they're going through their deliberations."
Though council's decision was met with an outburst of applause and shouts of approval from the 75 residents who were in attendance,
the city isn't a decision-maker when it comes to the application to build two single-megawatt gasification
generators.
Aboriginal Co-generation Corporation (ACC), the company behind the project, has applied for an air permit from the
Ministry of Environment.
If approved, the company - which has already signed a 10-year deal with Canadian Pacific Rail to dispose of the toxic
railway ties, leased land beside Domtar and is turning the stockpiled ties into wood chips - is able to go ahead with the
controversial $10-million incinerator that, through a complex gasification process, will turn the ties into electricity
that will be sold to BC Hydro.
Jason Bourgeois, the ministry's environmental management section head, said they are reviewing ACC's air permit application and to
comments on the merits of it "simply wouldn't be fair".
"It [the application] has met all the requirements," Bourgeois said, noting he received the application on
24 Aug 2009 and is in early stages of review.
"If the company can support it's claims - that remains to be seen."
If the ministry does grant the air permit and the burning of up to 500 ties a day begins, Milobar said the city will take the
necessary steps to ensure ACC's liquid and solid waste meets city standards for discharge in the sanitary system and landfills.
"Personally, I saw concerns around liquid and solid waste," he said, but if they do meet ministry standards, then yes, we
will have to move forward with it."
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