CRD Chair, Colin Plant, Says CRD Looking into Gasification of Biosolids - Times Colonist 2022-03-13
Colin Plant, Chair of Capital Regional District Board (CRD) is reported (Times Colonist, March 13, 2022) to be in favour of gasification of the 14,000 dry tonnes of residuals treated each year (turned into biosolids).
CRD chairman Colin Plant said the five-year deal with Lafarge provides a window “to decide on our preferred use of the biosolids” and work is underway by staff to study gasification.
Plant believes gasification of biosolids — which he describes as a large “pizza oven” where heat turns waste into usable fuel, leaving only ash — could produce a revenue stream from the sewage system, and the CRD is embracing that plan as its preferred use for biosolids in the long term.
Mount Work Coalition, among other groups opposed to the land application of toxic biosolids near our region’s farms and watersheds, supports the gasification of biosolids for three reasons:
CRD’s Residuals Treatment Plant at Hartland has thus far failed to consistently produce Class A Biosolids, therefore unable to ship the biosolids to Lafarge on the mainland (CRD pays Lafarge to use the biosolids as fuel for Lafarge’s cement manufacturing operations).
CRD has been spreading the non-Class A biosolids plus the excess Class A biosolids on the ground at Hartland despite all the evidence (including BC Ministry of Environment’s own 2020 study on toxic chemicals in Class A biosolids*) that many toxins of concern persist despite treatment and that plants uptake of toxins that remain in Class A biosolids. This poses many risks** to the ecosystem in and around Mount Work and the watershed. The CRD is also landfilling the excess biosolids that don’t meet Lafarge safety standards – something the MOE does not support. The whole point of the $775- million wastewater treatment project was to keep the region’s sewage out of the ocean and sewage solids out of landfill.
Gasification of all waste including sewage, such as what Esquimalt Township is actively working towards, produces energy in the form of synthetic gas in a fully contained process that significantly minimizes odours and emissions including toxins without considerable long-term costs. It is a significant way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste-to-landfill, hence, no need to spread biosolids (or pay someone else to benefit from their use) and no need to expand the Hartland landfill.
Note: A recent CRD report indicated that 92% of the biosolids produced to date (of the report) had been spread or landfilled at Harland with only 8% being shipped to Lafarge in Richmond.