sludge

Friday, December 20, 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday, December 20, 2013

Hamilton gets $23M from Ottawa for sewage treatment

Hamilton has been promised $23 million in federal money for a new facility to treat sewage sludge, but the city has no idea right now what that facility will be or what technology it will use to deal with the sludge.

Ottawa has promised the city up to $22.91 million to build a new waste treatment facility at the city’s Woodward Avenue treatment plant.

The facility would deal with “biosolids” — the roughly 100 tons of sewage the city creates every day. Currently, a treated version of the sludge is spread on local farm fields.

Putrified Organics Of Hamilton

It isn’t a sexy subject to talk about, said Dan McKinnon, the city’s director of water. But “this is really important.”

When combined with planned upgrades to the Woodward facility, “we’ve got plans in place now, and projects that are going to have a real legacy influence on the environment around Hamilton.”

David Sweet, MP for Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale, announced the money at city hall on Wednesday. It comes from the P3 Canada Fund for public-private partnerships.

The city still doesn’t know what form the new facility will take. It could be for incineration, pyrolysis or another technology, McKinnon said. The city issued a preliminary call for interest last year and got 17 responses. It will put out a request for proposals next year.

Whatever operator the city chooses, the P3 money will pay for 25 per cent of the cost of building the facility. The city will pay for the other 75 per cent, plus the cost of operating the facility for the next 30 years. The maximum budget is around $111 million over 30 years, McKinnon said. (Source: CBC News)

REACTION

Letter to the Editor-in-Chief

Paul,

As a follow up to our telephone call last Friday, I’m writing to express concern on behalf of ArcelorMittal Dofasco regarding that day’s editorial page cartoon by Graham Mackay (Friday December 20, 2013).

As you know, the two trademarked tag lines “Our strength is people.” and “Our product is steel. Our strength is people.” have been in use by our company for decades (44 years to be exact). The Hamilton Spectator’s usage of the trademark and adaptation of the full tagline in this morning’s newspaper is offensive to ArcelorMittal Dofasco and we feel this use negatively impacts our company’s goodwill and integrity in the community. Without careful review of the entire page’s content, the cartoon’s text is a direct reference to ArcelorMittal Dofasco and its product. In fact, the cartoon has caused upset among some of our employees who feel the use of our longstanding tagline is inappropriate and offensive.

We trust ArcelorMittal Dofasco will not be represented in this way again in The Hamilton Spectator.

Marie

Marie Verdun| Manager, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
ArcelorMittal Dofasco

Thursday December 20, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday December 20, 2012

Plan for Hamilton’s Randle Reef cleanup

It almost looks like a toy. The notion of putting a lid on a mass of coal tar contamination may sound odd, but it’s actually a common method for remediating these situations, says the project manager of Randle Reef.

Jonathan Gee, manager of the Great Lakes Areas of Concern division of Environment Canada, said the plan to encase the worst part of the contamination in steel has worked in numerous other places.

“This is not a brand new creation,” he said. “This is pretty well established.”

The project will see the highest concentration of coal tar — about 130,000 cubic metres — put into “a big steel box,” Gee said. The surrounding contamination — some 500,000 cubic metres — will be dredged into the containment facility, he said.

“It’s really pretty simple,” he said of the facility, which has a 200-year lifespan. “Conceptually, you build a big steel box. You fill the big steel box. Then you put a lid on the box and turn it over to an organization that will use it as a port facility and maintain it in perpetuity.”

Gee spoke with CBC Hamilton Tuesday morning when federal environment minister Peter Kent announced Ottawa’s share of the $138.9-million project. The clean up is a joint commitment between the federal and provincial governments, the Hamilton Port Authority, the cities of Hamilton and Burlington and the Halton Region. (Source: CBC News) 

 

Tuesday February 26, 2008

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday February 26, 2008

Sludge in the City

East Hamilton could end up with two sludge incineration plants if the city proceeds with plans for a $60-million burner at the Woodward Avenue sewage treatment plant, while the $120-million Liberty Energy Centre is built a short distance away on Strathearne Avenue.

The city plant, still at an early planning stage, would just burn sludge, while the Liberty centre would also use wood waste as fuel, enabling it to produce electricity for sale to the Ontario power grid.

Some councillors argued last August that it might make more sense for the city to use the Liberty Energy power plant and asked staff to investigate the cost.

* Hamilton now spreads 53,000 tonnes of sludge a year — about 1,250 truckloads — on farm fields in surrounding municipalities. It predicts it will cost $158 million to continue over the next 30 years, if sufficient land remains available. It puts the cost of incineration at $134 million and says that would also reduce trucking and the resulting air pollution.

* The Liberty Energy Centre is designed to handle about 400,000 tonnes of sludge and 150,000 tonnes of wood waste a year. It would be built in two stages, each capable of producing five megawatts of electricity. Together, they would burn 1,200 tonnes a day of sludge and 480 tonnes of chipped trees, lumber and other biomass, producing enough power for 8,000 homes. For further information, go to libertyenergy.ca.  (Source: Hamilton Spectator)