Comment 40779

By MaureenReilly (registered) | Posted May 18, 2010 at 02:40:36

Unfortunately, the author of this article does not understand the facts. The technology proposed by Liberty Energy is cleaner than the incinerator proposed by the Citz of Hamilton, since the Hamilton proposal fails to meet the Province of Ontario standards for incinerator air emissions.

Second mistake- the author is wrong about Minnesota. The sewage sludge incinerator in Minnesota is in St Pauls at the city sewage treatment plant and does not burn wood....it only uses sludge. And since there is mercury in sludge the St Paul plant scrubs the emissions and collects the mercury so that it is NOT emitted to the environment. This makes this kind of incineration far cleaner than Hamilton land applied sludge - where all the mercury is put into the atmosphere.

Third - Liberty will not be burning treated wood, only clean wood waste.

Fourth ' the wood does not have to be 'imported' since Hamilton has plenty of clean waste wood.

Fifth - no civilizations have not been spreading urban sewage sludge on crops since the dawn of agriculture. Sewage sludge is the unpredictable mixture of industrial and domestic sewage complete with toxic metals, industrial detergents, hospital, laboratory, and pharmaceutical waste. Nothing like the ancient human dung she is referring to. In general the big city sludges in Ontario only started to be used on farm fields after 1996.

The environmental assessment shows that land application of Hamilton sewage sludge must stop. It is both too toxic and too expensive to continue to put this contaminated sludge on Ontario farmfields. Using sludge for renewable energy is the way that the best most livable cities in the world manage their sludge - come and visit the plants that provide electricity and heating and airconditioning to the major capitals of Europe. (ie see Vienna, Copenhagen)

Environmentalists should tell the truth. Any good environmentalist should know that putting industrial waste on the food chain is not the right way forward.

Maureen Reilly Sludge Watch

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