Durham Region, Tue April 14, 2009 -- It's too early for Durham Region to sign any deal with US incinerator vendor Covanta, say residents concerned about the health and financial risks of the plan to burn trash from Durham and York regions. The residents point out there are three essential pieces of information missing that councillors would need to know before making any decision to proceed with the project.

The unknowns are the outcome of the site specific health and ecological risk assessment, possible new Ontario air pollution guidelines currently open for public comment, and no final business case. Councillors will be asked to authorize an Early Works Agreement, as recommended by a report by Durham and York Region staff released Thursday April 9, just before the Easter long weekend.

Now that the vendor and technology have been selected, the environmental assessment study can advance to the next step, a site-specific human health and ecological risk assessment. The residents say that committing to a contract now is premature because the health assessment must come first. "It seems very rash to be moving forward with a plan that hasn't been completely ironed out", says Ajax resident Dianne Cross. "I would expect my elected officials to not gamble with their constituents' health."

The residents also warn that proposed tighter limits in the A-7 Ontario air pollution guidelines for municipal waste incinerators could leave the region holding the bill for costly retrofits. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment is currently soliciting public comment, likely in advance of updating those guidelines. As specified by Durham, the incinerator would not meet the proposed limit for dioxins and furans, considered to be some of the most toxic pollutants known. A key paragraph in the staff report states clearly that "any future potential scope changes beyond the proponent's control, either resulting from future decisions of the Regions, and/or the Province through on-going approvals processes, could impact costs." (p.12)

At a capital cost of over $235 million, the bid tendered by New Jersey company Covanta is nearly 20 percent higher than the business case estimate of $198 million endorsed last year by Durham and York councils. Without revisiting the business plan with new capital and operating expenses, it would be foolhardy to move forward now on a 30 year project with such a large initial expenditure.

"What's the rush?", says Port Perry resident Barry Bracken. "They release the report on the Thursday before the Easter weekend and expect councillors to decide on a contract on the Tuesday after".