Covanta disputes council findings

By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express

The operator of the Durham York Energy Centre and the region are currently in a dispute over payments to the company.

Covanta, the company that operates the DYEC, is questioning findings from Durham and York Region that there was an electricity production shortfall at the waste facility in 2017.

In May 2018, both regions notified Covanta the liquidated damages for the alleged shortfall had been assessed, and Covanta was invoiced for some of the amount, and the rest was remitted.

The amount of the liquidated damages was not publicly released.

Last July, regional staff notified Covanta the rest of the money would be retained and subtracted from the next invoice of money owed to the company.

Covanta was also informed the recall period, which a staff report refers to as “essentially a warranty period,” will be extended for another two years due to concerns surrounding deficiencies in some equipment, which the region claims “necessitates component repairs and replacement.”

In response to the claims against the company, Covanta provided notice in November it is disputing these issues, and requested a negotiations and dispute resolution, in accordance with the project agreement.

According to the staff report, the next steps are to attempt to negotiate in good faith in accordance with the project agreement in order to resolve the dispute.

The negotiations don’t produce any sort of resolution, and if it’s requested by one of two parties, “negotiations may be elevated to executive officers for each party.”

If negotiations break down, both parties may agree to attempt mediation or arbitration or a combination of both, the report states.

Negotiations are ongoing and any proposed resolution will be presented to council by staff.