Posted with full permission from the Hamilton Spectator.
By Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 26, 2007)
Liberty Energy says a new, independent study shows the health of people living and working in east Hamilton is not threatened by a proposed Strathearne Avenue power plant fuelled by sewage sludge and waste wood.
Another study predicts construction of the facility will add more than $100 million to the Hamilton economy and support more than 500 years of employment.
If built, it will produce enough electricity to supply 8,000 homes, create the equivalent of about 150 full-time jobs and inject more than $10 million a year into the local economy.
The company released its own summary of the 550-page health study on the weekend. It forecasts only negligible health impacts and says particulate matter in the air would increase at most by 1.3 per cent.
Most of the particulate increase is blamed on road dust kicked up by increased truck traffic. Liberty says it would combat that by paving its site and sweeping Strathearne to reduce dust tracked onto the road from neighbouring, unpaved industrial operations.
The health report is one of seven studies conducted to help the Ontario Environment Ministry decide whether to order a full environmental assessment. As a small power plant fuelled by waste biomass -- a category that includes sludge, wood waste and farm crop residues but not municipal or industrial waste -- Liberty was required to go through only an environmental screening process.
But the City of Hamilton, MPP Andrea Horwath, Environment Hamilton, the Hamilton Beach Preservation Committee, Community Action Parkdale East and half a dozen individuals have asked the ministry to order a full assessment. After receiving those requests, ministry staff asked the company to conduct seven more studies.
The ministry has not said how soon it will make a decision. According to the company, the human health risk assessment concluded "there are no acute impacts to human health," and "potential chronic risks will not occur above acceptable levels."
emcguinness@thespec.com
905-526-4650
By Eric McGuinness
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 26, 2007)
Liberty Energy says a new, independent study shows the health of people living and working in east Hamilton is not threatened by a proposed Strathearne Avenue power plant fuelled by sewage sludge and waste wood.
Another study predicts construction of the facility will add more than $100 million to the Hamilton economy and support more than 500 years of employment.
If built, it will produce enough electricity to supply 8,000 homes, create the equivalent of about 150 full-time jobs and inject more than $10 million a year into the local economy.
The company released its own summary of the 550-page health study on the weekend. It forecasts only negligible health impacts and says particulate matter in the air would increase at most by 1.3 per cent.
Most of the particulate increase is blamed on road dust kicked up by increased truck traffic. Liberty says it would combat that by paving its site and sweeping Strathearne to reduce dust tracked onto the road from neighbouring, unpaved industrial operations.
The health report is one of seven studies conducted to help the Ontario Environment Ministry decide whether to order a full environmental assessment. As a small power plant fuelled by waste biomass -- a category that includes sludge, wood waste and farm crop residues but not municipal or industrial waste -- Liberty was required to go through only an environmental screening process.
But the City of Hamilton, MPP Andrea Horwath, Environment Hamilton, the Hamilton Beach Preservation Committee, Community Action Parkdale East and half a dozen individuals have asked the ministry to order a full assessment. After receiving those requests, ministry staff asked the company to conduct seven more studies.
The ministry has not said how soon it will make a decision. According to the company, the human health risk assessment concluded "there are no acute impacts to human health," and "potential chronic risks will not occur above acceptable levels."
emcguinness@thespec.com
905-526-4650