Durham Region gives incinerator green light

Durham councillors endorsed the recommendation to issue the “acceptance certificate” for the $295-million Durham York Energy Centre.

Thestar.com
Jan. 28, 2016
By Noor Javed

Durham Region issued the final stamp of approval for its controversial incinerator Thursday - just over a month after it failed the project for not yet meeting contractual requirements.

Durham councillors endorsed the recommendation to issue an “acceptance certificate” for the $296 million Durham York Energy Centre in Clarington, during an in camera council meeting this week. It was also revealed that the project, now a year behind schedule, is also $21 million over-budget, according to numbers provided by the region.

The decision to issue the certificate means the plant, built and operated by U.S.-based company Covanta, has met all regulatory requirements and can now operate at full capacity to process 140,000 tonnes of residual household garbage each year, from Durham and York regions.

“The Durham York Energy Centre has proven it can meet the strongest emission standards in the world in addition to the strict requirements mandated by the Province of Ontario,” Roger Anderson, Durham’s regional chair and CEO, said in a news release Thursday.

During the public session of the council meeting Wednesday, residents and councillors expressed concerns about the ballooning cost of the project and the ongoing monitoring of emissions - particularly of the stack tests.

In an interview Thursday, Oshawa Councillor John Neal said a lot of questions remain.

“They just want to get this thing done and out of the public’s eye,” he said. “It’s been a very expensive and environmentally questionable project.”

In December, the region decided not to issue the acceptance report based on the results of a 30-day test completed in November. Covanta met almost all the requirements of the test, which measured factors such as noise, soil, odour and emissions. But the region found Covanta was producing 2.5 per cent more ash than it should be - and withheld the acceptance certificate.

According to a staff report, Covanta disputed this outcome and claimed that additives of cement, water and a material called pozzolan - to stabilize the fly ash - were not taken into account in the calculations. The two parties undertook a dispute resolution process to come to an agreement.

During the closed-doors meeting Wednesday, councillors revised the project agreement to increase the amount of ash allowed to be produced, according to the news release.

“Covanta did not pass the acceptance test; they were given a pass,” said Linda Gasser, a Durham resident and long-time critic of the project. “They just changed the rules.”

Covanta did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday or Thursday.

This week, councillors also raised concerns about the reliability of the results of a stack test last year.

During the 30-day acceptance phase, Covanta conducted three stack tests - measurements of pollutants being emitted. The first showed a high level of toxic dioxins and furans. The region said those results reflected a high level of “interference” that led to faulty measurements, and subsequently Covanta conducted two other tests that were “well within compliance limits for dioxins and furans.”

In the first year of full operation, two more stack tests are required. One will probably be done in March, city staff said. Beyond that, the test must be done annually, as required by the provincial environment ministry, said Cliff Curtis, Durham’s commissioner of works.

Now that approval is finalized, Covanta will provide oversight of the “operations and environmental performance,” and a consultant for the region will conduct monthly inspections, Curtis said.