Stop the Mega Incinerator in Port Hope!
- by: Lauren McFarlane
- recipient: Port Hope Mayor and Councilors
Currently there are plans to build a mega incinerator in Port Hope, Ontario. The incinerator proposed for Port Hope would be by far the largest in the world using this technology. 540,000 - 600,000 tonnes of garbage from other communities would be trucked into Port Hope annually, amounting to 180 hundreds of trucks of garbage a week destined for our community.
There are serious health concerns surrounding this type of incineration technology, including the release of dangerous nano-particles into our atmosphere, which negatively affects the air we breathe, the local food we eat, and the water we drink.
Other serious concerns include:
o The Ministry of the Environment is not conducting a Full Environmental Assessment
o Another environmental issue that could further damage Port Hope’s image
o Negative impact on local property value in Northumberland
o Negative impact on local business in Northumberland
o Entech-REM Company and technology have no track record in Canada, USA or Western Europe
o Port Hope and the County of Northumberland need to reduce waste, not incinerate it
o Inadequate public consultation by REM and Council
o REM’s changing facts and evasive response to public inquiry
o REM representing Waste Incineration as Power Generation*
o The few jobs created may not be for local residents
o Port Hope residents are being used as guinea pigs for technology that has yet to meet any North American environmental standards
Environmental standards for noxious substances and effects are notoriously lax at the best of times, but knowledge about nanoparticles is so new that there are currently no government regulations on release of nanoparticles into the air. In this as in many other cases, governments and government agencies are far behind science, and individual vendors of services are free to pursue their profit interests with no control in respect of human health concerns.
Because of these concerns, other municipalities in Ontario have said no to hosting REM’s incinerator. Brant County Mayor Rob Eddy said no to a similar proposal from REM, stating that his county “didn’t want to be guinea pigs.”
More information on the mega incinerator and the negative effects of other incinerators globally can be found at this website:
http://www.phr4mwr.ca/
Please stand with the citizens of Port Hope, Cobourg, and Northumberland County, and voice your opposition to the mega incinerator.
* The Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment (CCME) classifies technology such as Entech-REM (Waste to Energy) as a Waste Incinerator
Dear Mayor and Councilors,
I am opposed to REM’s application to build a Waste Incinerator in your municipality.
My concerns are:
o I am concerned about emissions and the health risks
o This will be the largest Waste Incinerator using gasification technology in the world
o Ministry of the Environment is not conducting a Full Environmental Assessment
o Residents outside of Port Hope have not been consulted, yet we are downwind and at risk
o Company and technology have no track record in Canada, USA or Western Europe
o Importation of 540,000 tonnes of waste per year into Port Hope
o Inadequate public consultation by REM
o REM’s changing facts and evasive response to public inquiry
o REM representing Waste Incineration as Power Generation*
o The few jobs created may not be for local residents
o We are being used as guinea pigs for technology that has yet to meet any North American environmental standards
o Negative impact on local property value
o Negative impact on local business
o The County of Northumberland need to reduce waste, not incinerate it
I am asking the Port Hope Council to reject Entech-REM’s application to develop a power generation facility together with waste management and recycling facility by keeping the HOLD in place until the taxpayers and residents are convinced that this facility will not endanger our health, safety and livelihood.
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