CLARINGTON -- St. Marys Cement is looking to fire up its kiln with garbage in an alternative fuels demonstration project and held a public meeting this week to let residents know about it.
During a 36-day demonstration project, St. Marys wants to substitute 13 per cent of the conventional fuel with garbage. Three specific fuels would be used: paper sludge left over from recycling, plastic film leftover from composting and leftover plastics from the processing of recycled paper.
"This is all material that has gone through recycling already and normally goes to landfill," said Martin Vroegh, environmental manager for St. Marys Cement.
The garbage would total one per cent of the material in the kiln. More than 90 per cent of the material in the kiln would remain the limestone that's transformed into the cement. Currently, the Bowmanville plant uses coal and pet coke which is leftover from oil refining process to fuel the plant.
St. Marys held a public information session for residents on Wednesday, as part of the process necessary to obtain a permit for the demonstration. If approved by the Ministry of the Environment, the demonstration would run in November and December and the results of it would eventually be publicly released.
Mr. Vroegh said using the alternative fuel could reduce air emissions for compounds such as Sulfur Oxide (SOx) and said the plant already has pollution controls.
As well, the company would conduct stack testing and air quality monitoring.
"What we want to reiterate is this is a one-time short duration project that we hope will improve our air emissions," he said, adding other parts of the world burn similar material in kilns.
"If it works and we get the results we're looking for, we would be required to conduct an environmental assessment before going further."
Residents attending the public information session had lots of questions for the company, most of them focused on human health.
Bowmanville resident Valerie Bowering brought a page and a half of questions with her to the event. She said there are a lot of unknowns about burning alternative fuels.
"What scares people is lack of knowledge about the types of compounds that could be emitted and how it affects our health," she said, adding she thought the company did a good job of answering her questions.
"I'm going to take (the) answers and further do some research," she said.
Jeff Cowan, who lives up the road from the plant, is also wary about the project.
"There hasn't been anyone I know of that's been able to burn garbage and not have any fallout," he said.
Some residents accused the company of being motivated by profit, not concern for the environment.
"If you can do something good for the environment and make it profitable, why shouldn't you do that," sad Mr. Vroegh, adding the economic downturn, especially in the United States, has been bad for business. The company has been closed for four months already this year, when the normal total is about three weeks.
St. Marys will host another information session on Sept. 10 from 7 to 9 p.m. at 410 Waverly Rd. S. As well, information about the project will be online at www.stmaryscement.com or via e-mail at fueldemo@vcsmc.com.
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