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BOWMANVILLE, ONCUPE Ontario, CAW Durham Region Environment Council, Prevent Cancer Now, local doctors and Clarington town councilors have joined forces to prevent Durham region from building a P3 incinerator amidst farm land and schools in Clarington.
Incinerators emit carcinogens which can cause cancer in children. These can be absorbed by breathing and by eating locally grown foods. The proposed incinerator is located in an agricultural community and there are at least 20 schools within a ten kilometer radius. More than 75 local doctors have spoken out against the project. On April 1st, Durham Region Council voted against conducting air, environmental and human health biomonitoring over the operating life of the incinerator.
The Durham energy from waste is conceived as a P3 (Public- Private-Partnership) project. Durham will finance an incinerator that a private company designs, builds and operates. The deal also stipulates that Durham and York Regions will have to provide at least 140,000 tons of garbage yearly to burn. Touted as a clean source of renewable electricity the proposed incinerator will burn material materials made from non renewable resources and produce more pollution that a coal fired power plant. The incinerator will actually consume more energy than the 20 MW it’s designed to produce. The P3 incinerator, originally slated to cost $197 million dollars, is currently priced at $235 million dollars though a shovel has not broken dirt.
This is typical of P3 projects, says Sid Ryan President of CUPE Ontario. They underbid to get the project going then the taxpayer is on the hook for the cost overruns. This project smells like an environmental and fiscal disaster.
Durham Region Council’s private sector partner is Covanta Energy of New Jersey. Covanta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2002 and was restructured. Covanta facilities in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have been fined for emission violations including failure to report excess emissions.
The Municipality of Clarington is the proposed site for the incinerator although this community is not a willing host for the project.
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For further information:
Sid Ryan President, CUPE Ontario 416 209-0066
Kevin Wilson CUPE Ontario Communications 416 821-6641
