The Hamilton Spectator
UPDATED: Tuesday, July 30, 2002 12:34 AM
Sewer fertilizer plant possible in east Hamilton
Eric McGuinness, Environment Reporter
The Hamilton Spectator
A former food-waste recycling plant in east Hamilton could be converted to produce fertilizer pellets from sewage sludge. Thermo-Tech Technologies Inc., of Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, yesterday announced a deal to lease its shuttered Hamilton Bio-Conversion plant to Hamilton-based American Water Services Canada Corp. for 20 years.
American Water runs Hamilton's sewage and water plants and spreads sludge on farmland for Hamilton, Niagara, Halton and Toronto, among other municipalities.
It also runs a sludge-pellet plant in Windsor, and said last year it was looking at the possibility of a central plant to serve a wide area of southern Ontario.
The Thermo-Tech plant, on Brampton Street, processed restaurant waste and stale food products into animal feed for several years before it closed last September.
There were several fires in the plant, and the company is also charged with polluting Red Hill Creek.
Phil Sidhwa, vice-president of biosolids management and business development for American Water Canada, calls the Thermo-Tech announcement premature, saying American Water hasn't yet decided to go ahead.
"We are in the very preliminary evaluation stage to see what we can do with this facility. When and if we are going to do something, we will have a news release of our own."
But Sidhwa confirms his company has a deal with Thermo-Tech, has approached the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy about the sludge-pellet proposal, and plans to consult area residents.
Burke Austin, an environmental activist representing Community Action Parkdale East, is not happy about the prospect of another waste-handling facility in the area, which is home to the city's garbage incinerator, the Woodward Avenue sewage plant and an American Water facility that reprocesses used carbon from Niagara water plants.
"Right here in the east end, another one. How are we going to deal with this one? We'll have to fight it."
Brampton Street runs behind the Woodward Avenue plant on the west side of Red Hill Creek, which forms the boundary between municipal wards 4 and 5.
The Hamilton Bio-Conversion building is across the creek on the eastern end of Brampton Street.
Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla says he's concerned the lease was announced before city officials or area residents were consulted.
"I'm concerned they've already made a decision, and any consultation will be just for show. I want full disclosure and open dialogue."
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) enforces the federal fertilizer act, which requires products sold for plant growth to meet nutrient and food-safety regulations.
The City of Toronto built a pellet plant, but ran it only briefly last spring, because the CFIA said the pellets didn't meet labelling requirements for sale.
Kiyoshi Oka, of Toronto's works and emergency services department, said yesterday that the label has been changed, the plant will likely re-start soon, and the city hopes to recoup some of the $25-million plant cost by selling pellets to farmers.
Maureen Reilly, an environmental activist opposed to using sludge in any form on farmland, notes moisture can cause stored pellets to heat up and ignite. She says Toronto pellets stockpiled outdoors at a Cannington, Ont. farm smouldered for several weeks.
You can contact Eric McGuinness at
emcguinness@hamiltonspectator.com or at 905-526-4650.
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