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Energy-from-waste power plant would be major emitter By David Lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 9 · Wednesday, March 10, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com They've regulated lower emissions for industries and businesses and now the time has come to see if the Town of Oakville will practice what it preaches. The Town-owned corporation, Oakville Hydro Energy Services Inc., in partnership with the Halton Region, operates a facility at the Halton Waste Management Site, which burns the gas produced by rotting garbage to create electricity. The process gets rid of harmful greenhouse gases like methane while simultaneously feeding electricity into the public power grid, but it also produces an emissions by-product the size of which cannot be ignored. According to the Province's National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) report of 2008, the Oakville Hydro facility emits 2.1 tonnes of PM (particulate matter) 10 and 2.1 tonnes of PM 2.5 per year. The Town now has a Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw in place, which states a facility cannot emit more than 500 kilograms of PM 10 or 300 kilograms of PM 2.5 per year. Those facilities that exceed these thresholds are labeled major emitters and have to go through a municipal approvals process that could see Town council stop them from operating in Oakville if the facility does not reduce its emissions. Oakville Hydro energy-from-waste plant exceeds air quality bylaw emission levels OAKVILLE BEAVER FILE PHOTO OPENING DAY: (L-R) Regional Councillor and chair of the waste management site advisory committee Barry Lee, Halton Planning and Public Works commissioner Peter Crockett, Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr ,Oakville Mayor Rob Burton, former Oakville Hydro President and CEO Alex Bystrin and Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn were all smiling when the Halton Waste Management Site's energy-from-waste plant was officially opened in 2007. As the Oakville Hydro facility is located in Milton, the bylaw does not apply, but even so, Oakville Mayor Rob Burton said he is aware the facility's emissions exceed what is allowed in Oakville and is working to bring it into compliance. Fine Particulate Matter is a subject the Town has taken very seriously in recent months because of the adverse health effects the air pollutant is associated with. During public consultations for the Health Protection Air Quality Bylaw, the Town's Director of Environmental Policy Cindy Toth spoke on the need to establish emissions regulations because based on an annual concentration of 10 microgram/m3, there will be 80 premature deaths in Oakville attributable to PM 2.5 pollution every year. When the Oakville Hydro Waste Management Site facility was rolled out in 2007, it was stated the facility would eliminate 3,000 tonnes of methane gas from the landfill each year, the equivalent of removing 15,000 cars from area roads. The plant generates as much as 2.1 megawatts of electricity, which is enough to power approximately 1,500 homes for one day. It was also stated that the operation was very clean because no garbage was actually being burned. "When you burn garbage you know there can be a lot of contaminants in garbage, but when you have gas generated in a landfill site, what you have in theory is 49 per cent carbon dioxide, 49 per cent methane and maybe one or two per cent contaminants," said Gerrit Buitenhuis, waste operations manager, in 2007. "By burning it (the gas), there are virtually no contaminants left and by putting it in an engine like this, we clean it even more by taking all the moisture out and by taking out all the hydrogen sulfide. It's probably cleaner than your car engine because the gas in your car is more contaminated than what comes out of here." Ladies, Heading South?? i H i S Visit Watch Us Fashions First! sit GET PRE-APPROVED ON MARCH 26, 2010 GENWORTH FINANCIAL EXPERTS SCOTIABANK ADVISORS YOU WILL HAVE ON-SITE ACCESS TO: LEGAL ADVISOR: KYLE & VAN DER STEEN LLP SCOTIABANK MORTGAGE SPECIALISTS OAKVILLE BASED REALTORS Enter a Draw to WIN a GIFT CERTIFICATE valued at $250 CONTACT ANY OF THE FOLLOWING OAKVILLE BRANCHES FOR MORE INFORMATION: OAKVILLE MAIN (LAKESHORE E & GEORGE): (905) 845-6729 DORVAL CROSSING (N SERVICE & 8TH): (905) 845-2424 GLEN ABBEY: (UPPER MIDDLE): (905) 847-3995 IROQUOIS SHORE & 8TH LINE: (905) 338-5005 DUNDAS & TRAFALGAR: (905) 257-4830 THIRD LINE & SPEERS: (905) 847-2703 SPEERS & DORVAL: (905) 338-5210 WE CAN HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU HAVE. Watch Us Fashions 1131 Nottinghill Gate (Glen Abbey) 905-827-2271 Open 7 Days A Week ® Registered trademarks of the Bank of Nova Scotia. 1 Subject to Scotiabank's and its insurer's lending criteria.