Sludge Watch ==> Hamilton - Commentary - City is hypocritical - sludge burning needs bump up

[Maureen Reilly]

Planned incinerator fires up opposition

Hamilton Spectator File Photo
The city wants to build a $150-million sewage sludge incinerator at its 
wastewater treatment facility on Woodward Avenue.


The city wants to build a $150-million sewage sludge incinerator at its 
wastewater treatment facility on Woodward Avenue.



November 14, 2007
Burke Austin
The Hamilton Spectator
(Nov 14, 2007)


I do not understand why the City of Hamilton is proposing to build and 
operate a sewage sludge incinerator at its wastewater treatment facility on 
Woodward Avenue.

This will cost the taxpayers at least $150 million. It will burn the three 
truckloads a day of sewage sludge that Hamilton produces and will not 
produce any energy from that waste. This incinerator will be 193 metres from 
the closest home and about 500 metres from our neighbourhood school.

Surely no one wants an incinerator in their back yard. Obviously city 
staffers knew this when they put the notice of completion for a minimal 
class B environmental assessment in The Spectator in late August when 
residents were ending holidays and getting their children ready for school.

A Class B assessment requires little detail and no health studies. I find 
this somewhat hypocritical of our city council, seeing that its members 
voted unanimously this month for a full environmental assessment for Liberty 
Energy, a company that wants to open a similar project in Hamilton.

We realize that putting sewage sludge into landfills or applying it onto 
land are environmentally unsustainable because the toxins and chemicals in 
the sludge will eventually enter the food chain. Incineration is the only 
option. However, incineration produces air emissions that contain a mix of 
heavy metals such as mercury and lead and chemicals such as benzo(b)pyrene, 
styrene and dioxins.

Community Action and 20 individuals requested that the City of Hamilton 
"bump up" its Class B environmental assessment to a full environmental 
assessment, listing three concerns:

* Public transparency and open communication:

Community Action has been around for more than a decade. We have been 
involved in many issues that affect our neighbourhood. We were not informed 
or invited to be a part of the incineration plan. Even after we learned 
about it we were denied a meeting with city staff.

Instead we received a copy of a letter that the city sent to the Ministry of 
the Environment. As a result of our concerns the city rescinded its notice 
of completion for a Class B on the project and is preparing a Class C 
assessment -- which is not a full assessment and does not have to address 
alternatives. This is unacceptable.

A staff official said the city followed both the letter and spirit of the 
applicable Municipal Class Environmental Assessment process. I beg to 
differ, unless there was an invisible spirit that notified us that the city 
was once again planning to dump on us north east end residents.

Where's our Councillor Sam Merulla, who sits on the public works committee? 
He told me in an e-mail that he opposed the city's plan to build an 
incinerator and offered to help us formalize a petition. When asked why he 
didn't request a full environmental assessment for the city's project, he 
blamed staff. How convenient.

* Location:

The proposed location is at the site where the old incinerator now stands. 
Our group had it shut down in January of 1996 after receiving documentation 
from the Ministry of the Environment on the numerous malfunctions over a 
two-year period. Just before then the city spent $40 million on a 
state-of-the-art Thermal Kinetic system for the incinerator. It never 
worked.

The Solid Waste Reduction Unit was another example of the incompetence of 
our city staff. It was permanently shut down after residents discovered many 
discrepancies in stack testing.

The city should not be in the incineration business.

* Rationale and alternatives:

Almost three years ago, a company called Liberty Energy came to Hamilton 
with a proposal to build a $60-million gasification (incineration) facility. 
The location is 2.3 hectares of brownfield land on Strathearne Avenue North. 
It is in the midst of vast metal recycling yards. The nearest home is 903 
metres away from the planned facility.

Liberty Energy developed this project in response to the Ministry of 
Energy's mandate to procure 2,500 megawatts of renewable power generation. 
Liberty Energy will inject 10 megawatts of electricity into our local grid. 
It will dispose of 340,000 tonnes of sewage sludge and 130 tonnes of biomass 
(wood) annually through a thermal incineration process.

At first, our group was completely opposed to Liberty, but after several 
meetings, tours and going through literally thousands of pages of studies we 
changed our minds. We have written guarantees that no trucks will impact the 
community and the company is willing to form a community liaison committee. 
Liberty is still seeking approval from the ministry. Liberty will provide 
employment and the city will benefit from tax revenues.

We are bound to have a hefty tax increase next year because of provincial 
downloading. Water rates are going to jump as well because the ratepayers 
have to spend somewhere between $500 million and $900 million to upgrade the 
sewage treatment plant so raw sewage will not enter the harbour during storm 
events.

Why does the city want to build an incinerator to burn sludge when they can 
send their three truckloads a day over to Liberty? They are planning to 
build a solid waste incinerator with the Municipality of Niagara, Where will 
it be located? Why, Hamilton of course!

Hamilton acts as if it is trying to chase away investors who want to 
revitalize our brown fields.

Go figure.

Burke Austin lives in Hamilton and is chairperson of Community Action 
Parkdale East.

http://www.thespec.com/Opinions/article/281527