ERO notice 019-1446 Biogas…

ERO number

019-1444

Comment ID

46734

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Individual

Comment status

Comment approved More about comment statuses

Comment

ERO notice 019-1446 Biogas project – 633 Coronation Drive, Scarborough, ON

I have no generic aversion to biowaste digesters: the issues are always around size, location, accessibility, and full lifecycle environmental analysis (i.e. energy output is more than energy input; environmental pollution is mitigated not exacerbated). Unfortunately, insufficient information has been provided to assess these fully.
Quite apart from the atmospheric pollutants listed in the application, (carbon dioxide, total reduced sulfur (TRS), sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, methane, particulate matter) which will increase air pollution locally and potentially unpleasant odour (e.g. TRS), accidentally spillage into the local environment so close to Lake Ontario is a matter of concern. Also of concern is the environmental impact of transporting 1240 tonnes a day of biowaste from remote locations to the site and then 620 tonnes a day of unusable waste from the site (e.g. diesel fumes and particulates; noise) through a significant residential area. This latter could in part be mitigated by requiring all transporting trucks to use biogas for fuel.
I understand that the ERO is not concerned with issues of road safety or road maintenance, but neither will be enhanced by adding another 100 journeys of large trucks to the local roads every day (even with a 10 delivery schedule that is one truck every 6 minutes).