Sludge Watch ==> Pelham paper sludge berm complete - Abitibi looks for new communities to victimize

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Lets see...how would you feel? A huge papermill takes three months to truck 
thousands of truckloads of decomposing industrial waste
to the property next to yours...with no environmental assessment, or 
notification.  There is an empty greenhouse at the site, and they claim
they are building a 'sound-berm' to cut down on the sound of the train to 
protect the non existent cucumbers from the noise.  (Does this make
sense?) But in the end its not a berm  but instead its a huge mountain of 
putrifying industrial wastewater sludge that is leaking a murky grey 
bubbling
leachate which runs off into a little creek.

And the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, two months into the mess, will 
only provide a handful of test results one of which shows the material
has huge levels of fecal coliform.  This stuff is putrescible, decomposing 
material and needs to be properly, legally composted on a concrete pad with
leachate controls.

The behaviour of Abitibi Paper and the Ministry of the Environment is a 
disgrace. The Ontario government needs to implement the recommendations of 
their own
Expert Panel's Report. And communities everywhere need to pass bylaws 
against these waste dumping initiatives by irresponsible recycled paper 
mills.

.........................................................................................




St. Catherine's Standard
Pelham sludge berm halted; But Abitibi looking for other locations to dump 
its waste

MATTHEW VAN DONGEN

Friday, September 29, 2006 - 01:00

Local News - Pelham's sludge mountain has peaked at last - but it likely 
won't be the last built in Niagara.

Paper recycler Abitibi Consolidated reached an agreement with municipal 
politicians Thursday on the future of the controversial berm at 325 Church 
St., which neighbours fear is a health risk.

The exact details of the agreement won't be released until finalized next 
week.

But generally, Abitibi has agreed to implement recommendations made by a 
provincial expert panel on berm building, said company spokesman Marc 
MacDonald.

"We're going to be proactive, that's the key," MacDonald said. "We want to 
be transparent, to better communicate with the community in the future."

The agreement will likely include:

"Ongoing" water-quality monitoring at the Pelham berm.

Hydrogeological assessments conducted beforehand at any future berm sites.

"Community consultation" before dumping begins at new sites.

Pelham Mayor Ron Leavens wouldn't divulge any other details about what 
Abitibi has planned for the berm in his community.

"But I can say I left the meeting smiling broadly," Leavens said Thursday 
night.

"I think this agreement will make most people happy. It's the best we could 
hope for."

Leavens said he feels the agreement means Abitibi is taking responsibility 
for the berm, which was built by its contractor, Empire Agri-Services.

Residents' ultimate wish - that the berm be removed - will likely remain 
unfulfilled, he said.

"That was likely never in the cards," Leavens said.

However, if major contamination is found at the site, Leavens said he 
considers Abitibi responsible for "mitigating the environmental damage."

MacDonald said the berm - currently weighing in at 36,000 tonnes - is done 
growing.

But that leaves the company, which produces 400 tonnes of paper fibre sludge 
a day, searching for new sites to off-load the waste material.

"We are looking," MacDonald said.

Abitibi hopes to find a new way of dealing with sludge - possibly 
incineration - within two years.

But in the meantime, it still considers sludge berms "an environmentally 
safe option."

Paper fibre biosolids are a byproduct of the recycling process.

"This material is inert. The province has told us it's OK to use (in 
berms)," MacDonald said. "Our opinion on that hasn't changed."

Ministry of Environment tests this summer showed berm runoff is dangerous to 
the environment, however.

If Abitibi hasn't recognized that danger, residents will be wary of company 
testing, said Randy Desnoyers, a spokesman for a group opposed to the berm.

"They need to earn the trust of the community," Desnoyers said. "Until we 
get a clearer picture of the testing they'll do, I don't think (neighbours) 
will be very impressed."

Desnoyers said the company's promise to conduct pre-testing for future berms 
"is a good step in the right direction."

But, he added, residents would feel more comfortable if the provincial 
government would guarantee monitoring and testing "legislatively."

The province has spent more than a year reviewing the recommendations of the 
expert panel on Sound-Sorb, the commercial name for waste paper sludge mixed 
with sand.

The government has yet to implement any of the recommendations, but has 
instead signed an agreement with another paper recycler, Atlantic Packaging, 
to follow some of the report suggestions.

MacDonald said Abitibi is also poised to sign a similar agreement with the 
government on the use of paper waste in a week or two.

The agreement won't include the requirement for a provincial certificate of 
approval, however.

Leaving the process unregulated doesn't sit well with residents, said 
Desnoyers.

That's why members will push West Lincoln councillors to pass a bylaw Oct. 2 
banning the use of paper fibre waste across the municipality.

"If it goes through, we're hoping Pelham and other municipalities will fall 
in line," he said.