Wesleyville (Port Hope) Environmental Review of Unproven Incinerator Technology

By Linda Gasser

Renewable Energy Management (REM) wishes to construct a “low temperature” gasification incinerator to process primarily Industrial, Commercial and Institutional Waste, along with Municipal Solid Waste, in Wesleyville, just west of Port Hope in Ontario. REM began their Environmental Screening study process in 2009 and filed their Notice of Completion on September 19, 2013.

We encourage interested parties to review the Environmental Screening Report and Appendices.

Port Hope Residents 4 Managing Waste Responsibly (PHR4WMR) is a local group that has been closely monitoring this project. Their recent correspondence with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment sets out some of their concerns.

Prevent Cancer Now is concerned about the potential health and environmental impacts of this project to the residents of Wesleyville and Port Hope, because REM’s proposed “low temperature” gasification incinerator would be using unproven technology, and REM has no track record operating such a facility.

Furthermore, this incinerator would be inconsistent with the stated goals of Ontario’s Waste Reduction Act and Strategy.

Now is the time for interested parties to review REM’s Environmental Assessment documents and to request that the Environmental Assessment be “bumped up” from a Screening process to an Individual Environmental Assessment.

Any person may submit a request to the Director, Ministry of the Environment (with a copy to the proponent), that the project be made subject to an order under Part II of the Environmental Assessment Act, requiring the project to undergo an individual environmental assessment. These requests must be received by the Director no later than Monday, November 25, 2013.

Linda Gasser monitors information about the health and environmental risks of waste incinerators. She developed a toolkit of information on the links between incineration and cancer for PCN’s Ban Incineration Campaign. Linda can be reached by email at: gasserlinda@gmail.com

 
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• Many Good Reasons to go PVC-free
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• What is up with Canada’s review of the health effects of radiofrequency radiation? Have your say!
• Wesleyville (Port Hope) Environmental Review of Unproven Incinerator Technology
• Meet PCN’s New Co-Chair – Natasha Klemm, BSc ND
• Kincardine Nuclear Waste Deep Geological Repository Proposal – a bait and switch to a bigger, even riskier plan?
• “Proof of Safety” versus “Innocent Until Proven Guilty” for Endocrine Disruptors – EU actions trigger controversy
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• Think Before You Pink® Quiz
• PCN Shorts

Published: October 15th, 2013