A garbage incinerator could become a reality at the Tsawwassen First Nation as Metro Vancouver begins looking at bids to build waste-to-energy facilities.
Last year the province approved the regional district's new Solid Waste Management Plan. It includes goals for diverting 70 per cent of regional waste through recycling, composting and other programs by 2015, increasing to 80 per cent by 2020. The plan also includes constructing waste-toenergy facilities, either within the region or outside.
Two years earlier, the Delta Optimist reported the owner of the Vancouver Canucks was eyeing the chance to build a waste-to energy plant at the TFN.
Aquilini Renewable Energy, owned by Francesco Aquilini, is part of the privately-held Aquilini Investment Group. It's looking for opportunities in green energy, including waste-to-power and wind power.
When asked last week if his company is still looking at building a facility at the TFN, Aquilini Renewable Energy president John Negrin said it's still a possibility, but no agreement is in place.
The company is waiting for direction from the regional district, he explained.
"We're just trying to keep ourselves open as to where Metro may want to see this located," Negrin said.
"We're just like the rest of the competitors. We're just waiting to hear what's going to come forward by Metro, and looking to keep forward with the meetings and public consultation they're going to conduct, and pretty much follow the process like everyone else."
else." In a 2009 interview, Terry Baird, vice-president of construction for the TFN's Economic Development Corporation, confirmed the potential partnership with the Aquilini company. He said modern waste-to-energy technology is remarkably clean with little particulate matter ending up
TFN CAO Doug Raines told the Optimist this week the First Nation's industrial master plan has 30 acres designated as an "energy park" with the idea of a possible waste-to-energy facility.
"We are in discussions with the Aquilini Renewable Energy people over the due diligence, taking a look at the elements that would be involved in partnering with them on a waste-to-energy project. But we're also waiting for word from Metro (Vancouver) now to move forward with their next steps," Raines explained.
Other companies are also expected to start lining up to submit bids to Metro.
Metro Vancouver chair Greg Moore recently told the media the region is likely going to put out a tender for a waste-to-energy incinerator that can handle at least 500,000 tonnes, while a second contract would be open to alternative technologies that can handle 100,000 tonnes.
The Metro Vancouver board was previously told one big incinerator that could burn up to 500,000 tonnes of waste annually would cost an estimated $440 million.
Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who chairs the regional district's Zero Waste Committee, told the Optimist a report on how to proceed will be discussed by his committee in a couple of weeks. The report will contain recommendations on the consultation process and how the strategy should unfold.
"We need to have some consultation, including with the Fraser Valley Regional District, with the First Nations, with members of the public and the stakeholders," Brodie said.
"There's going to be technical experts who will be tasked to support the entire process, there's going to be guidelines for proposals. I expect the recommendation will be for a multi-stage process where they start off asking for a bare expression of interest and then a more defined process, a more elaborate and technical submission, ultimately asking for certain companies who have qualified to make final proposals."
Brodie noted the mandate of the solid waste plan, as well as approval by the Ministry of Environment, is that there be no bias toward a particular technology or location.
"Out of region or inregion solutions are to be analyzed. When you get the final proposals, they're going to have to be examined on everything from the environmental impact to the costs, including transportation if it's out of region, and recovery of energy," he said.
The Fraser Valley Regional District is opposed to waste-to-energy facilities being built in the Lower Mainland, citing concerns about the valley's airshed.
The only garbage incinerator in Metro Vancouver is a smaller facility in Burnaby.
