News
The Ministry of Environment has granted an air permit amendment for Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Corporation. The permit will allow the mill to burn more construction and demolition waste in their upgraded boiler. There will be a public information meeting on October 18 from 6 to 8 pm. at the Cedars Inn in Gibsons. After a short presentation the public will be able to ask questions about the permit.
In 2010 the mill consumption of wood waste was 1,094 thousands of cubic meters. Only 17.6% of the wood waste came from the Sunshine Coast. The rest of the wood waste was trucked or barged in from other sources. The mill expects to increase it's wood waste consumption with the completion of their boiler upgrade.
HSPP is completing the upgrade of its wood waste boiler under the facility’s $37 million federal Green Transformation Program. The mill is replacing of the bottom half of the furnace with advanced technology that uses a fluidized sand bed to burn waste bark. Under the federal program burning of wood waste is considered carbon neutral.
According to the permit the C&D wood waste must contain at least 70%( by weight) wood residue and not contain more than 1% painted wood or 1% plastic. It also states that the permitee must continually work with the C&D suppliers to reduce the amount of contamination in the C&D waste and aim to achieve 90% wood residue.
When contacted for comment, Louis Legal, retired meteorologist and a member of the Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society, responded that he would like to attend the public meeting before commenting. However, he also stated that he wasn't happy with the 70% wood residue figure and thinks that 90% should have been the starting point.
Both the Sunshine Coast Clean Air Society (SCCAS) and the Sunshine Coast Senior Citizens (SCSC) oppose burning in principle to discard waste. See Coast Views story: Incineration of Garbage and other waste.