www.waterkeeper.ca/content/fish/huge_incinerator_needs_ -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 12/28/2007
Last Visited: 1/18/2008
Lynda Lukasik, executive director of the citizens group, said California-based Liberty Energy Inc.'s "huge facility" has too many far-reaching implications to not undergo a full environmental assessment.
The company hopes to burn up to 400,000 tonnes of sewage sludge and 150,000 tonnes of wood waste per year and will have to import sludge from across Ontario because the city plans to build its own incinerator for the 53,000 tonnes of annual sludge it generates, she said.
Ms. Lukasik's group is asking the Ministry of the Environment to require a full assessment of Liberty Energy's plan.
As part of that assessment, the company would have to look at alternatives, including locating the incinerator elsewhere, she said.
"They may well be feeding it with sludge from communities from outside of Hamilton only, and not Hamilton, so the question becomes one, too, of environmental justice," Ms. Lukasik said.
"Does it make sense that Hamilton becomes the place where this facility is built?"she said.
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All of the above calculations are based on maximum emissions used for the project's health risk assessment, Ms. Lukasik said.
"We're talking about an airshed that's already heavily compromised by multiple sources, and to add an additional source, I think we need to be aware as a community what that means," she said.