durhamregion.com | Clarington local reps fire one last volley of opposition to incineration

Clarington local reps fire one last volley of opposition to incineration

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Size matters, local councillors remind regional counterparts

CLARINGTON -- The area's local councillors asked their regional counterparts to take a few messages along with them, as the Region votes on the proposed incinerator Wednesday.

Chief among them: size matters, not only in terms of the smoke stack, or stacks, to come from the incinerator, but in terms of the overall plant.

Regional council is being asked to vote on a 140,000-tonne incinerator.

"I do have concerns that there is going to be pressure on, because of financing, to go to 400,000 tonnes," local councillor Adrian Foster said. If that were to happen, "Clarington could become the next big importer of garbage" since the incinerator would have to be fed constantly.

Mayor Jim Abernethy said he was against importing garbage from Toronto .

"My position is no Toronto garbage period, and I think you'll find every regional councillor is of the same opinion," the mayor said during Monday's committee meeting.

He reminded councillors he had moved a motion, which had been referred to Clarington's operations department, calling for no transport of garbage between municipalities without the approval of the recipient municipality.

Tuesday, he clarified his position further.

"I believe that approving an (energy-from-waste) facility capable of processing 140,000 tonnes per year of residual residential waste is more than adequate to manage the current needs of both York and Durham Region, and will be for many years to come," he said in an e-mail.

Both he and Councillor Charlie Trim pointed to a pilot project at Bowmanville's St. Marys Cement, where "alternative fuels" are being used to fuel the kiln as a greater risk for importing waste.

"St. Marys operates a fleet of lake freighters," Coun. Trim said. "They take their product to the U.S. and come back empty. In the trucking business, if you can get hauling both ways, you really make money."

Local councillors also asked their regional counterparts to stand firm on the visual impacts of the proposed facility.

"The visual impact will be huge and will have an impact on the residents of Clarington and beyond -- a constant reminder," Councillor Ron Hooper said. "The (smoke) stack will be possibly 13 storeys high, and will be dual exhaust when we get to 400,000."

The Regions have agreed to spending $9 million on architectural improvements, Mayor Abernethy reminded councillors.

"I know that I will be fighting to ensure there isn't any whittling away at the design," he said.

Area dentist says 'bigger bribe' needed if it's to be built here

Jun 23, 2009 - 01:56 PM

By Jennifer Stone

CLARINGTON -- Maria Lit wants to know what Clarington is getting in return for hosting the proposed incinerator.

Pointing to an American study which indicated house values dropped 10 per cent in the vicinity of an incinerator, she said she wants to know how local residents will be compensated.

"Since we're going to be handling the burden, will council lower our property taxes?" she asked.

Clarington and the Region have come to terms on a host community agreement, which includes a $650,000 annual payment-in-lieu of taxes for Clarington, $10 per tonne for any waste brought in from Toronto, and start-up of the environmental assessment process which would allow servicing of nearby lands in Clarington's proposed science park.

Not good enough, said Dr. Lit.

"If we're going to have to tolerate the facility in this area, I'm sorry, but we need a bigger bribe," she said.

With Durham Region council poised to vote on whether to submit its environmental assessment aimed at building an incinerator in Courtice to the Province for final approval Wednesday, Dr. Lit, a Bowmanville resident with a dental practice in Lakefield, took the podium Monday at Clarington's last committee meeting before the final vote.

Dr. Lit challenged Regional councillors' take on risk assessments and peer reviews of those documents. For example, she said, the issue of nanoparticulates, a new, emerging science, is admittedly not addressed in the reports.

Not only that, but "epidemiological studies are limited," Dr. Lit told council. "They do not show causality, but they do show associations."

Last week, Clarington councillors heard from both the scientist who completed the risk assessment and the peer reviewer that they felt an incinerator could run safely at the proposed location near Courtice Road and Hwy. 401. Regional councillors then heard from the Region's medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Kyle, who indicated the incinerator would "not pose an unacceptable risk to persons living in the vicinity of the site."

But Dr. Lit said that shouldn't be confused with it being "safe."

"If (the reports) said it was conclusively safe, I'd say go ahead and do it," she said.

Mayor Jim Abernethy asked if she was "challenging the conclusions of (Durham's) medical officer of health."

"No," Dr. Lit said. "I challenge the conclusions (Durham) council derives from the report. The report is actually quite neutral."

Watch newsdurhamregion.com for updated reports as Regional council wrangles with its decision Wednesday.

-- with files from Keith Gilligan

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Clarington local reps fire one last volley of opposition to incineration

Size matters, local councillors remind regional counterparts

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