Region releases more incinerator docs
Details include possible reasoning behind increasing ash production
The Region of Durham has released more documents, mostly background and technical papers, from two closed meetings held in December 2015 and this past January. Those two meetings, both of which dealt with the Durham York Energy Centre, were deemed to have been improperly closed to the public following an investigation earlier this year.
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
Another cache of documents from two closed meetings that decided the fate of the Durham York Energy Centre have been made public and an explanation for why the incinerator was allowed to produce more ash after it failed the initial test may finally be known.
The documents were released following direction from regional councillors at the committee of the whole, and are primarily technical and background documents from the region’s consultants.
These documents, along with others that were made public last month, were presented to councillors at meetings held in December 2015 and this past January.
Of note in the released documents is a line stating that Covanta had demonstrated it could lower the amount of cement and pozzolan – used to solidify and safely transport ash from the incinerator – safely, and that further testing would be needed to see if it could lower it further.
The ash quantity issue was what resulted in Covanta initially being given a failing grade for the acceptance test, as it produced too much ash according to its contract with the region. The site’s operator, however, maintained that the stabilizing agents should not be included in the count, as they are needed to solidify the ash.
This document was included in the Dec. 22, 2015 meeting, when the regional committee of the whole met in a closed meeting at regional headquarters to discuss the incinerator. The day following the meeting, the region announced that Covanta, the operator of the incinerator, had not passed its acceptance testing, citing that the facility had produced more ash than was acceptable under the contract between the region and the operator.
In an emailed statement to The Oshawa Express, Gioseph Anello, the region’s manager of waste planning and technical services, says the decision was made not to go down this route as the region and its consultants believed it would not be as effective.
“It was determined that lowering the amount of cement and pozzolan could reduce the effectiveness of the encapsulation process and thereby increase the levels of contaminants that could leach from the treated fly ash,” he says.
On Jan. 27, following a meeting of regional council, the committee of the whole again met behind closed doors to discuss the incinerator. Following that meeting, regional council reconvened, and voted to amend the contract between Durham and Covanta, allowing the operator to produce more ash, now accounting for the cement and pozzolan that was being added to the mixture.
As a result, the incinerator was given the go ahead to go into commercial operation the following day.
The two meetings were found to have been improperly closed to the public following an investigation by the region’s closed meeting investigator, Amberley Gavel.