Controversy surrounding a proposed plan to burn tires at the Lafarge cement plant in Brookfield, N.S. continues to heat up.
A petition, with close to 3,000 signatures was presented to the Nova Scotia Legislature on Tuesday. Environmental and community groups are urging to the McNeil government to deny Lafarge the industrial approval they need for the pilot project to go ahead.
“I hope that the government will receive the message that we as citizens want clean air. We want things done right and this proposal lacks credence,” said Lydia Sorflaten, a spokesperson for Citizens Against Burning of Tires. (CABOT)
WATCH: ‘Utter disappointment’ in N.S. government decision to allow Lafarge to burn tires
NDP introducing bill to try and stop tire burning
The fight against the burning of tires spans a decade in Nova Scotia. That’s when Lafarge initially applied – but was denied – a permit to burn tires.
NDP MLA Lenore Zann introduced the same bill Tuesday afternoon that a Liberal MLA first brought to the House of Assembly 10 years ago.
“The bill was passed but it wasn’t proclaimed. So that means the government is able to allow the Lafarge to burn tires,” said Zann. “I really believe that it’s time that we say no to burning tires in Nova Scotia once and for all.”
“Back in 2007, Keith Colwell introduced a bill saying that we shouldn’t burn tires in Nova Scotia and I see no reason why anybody’s opinion should have changed on that matter,” said Mark Butler, Director of the Ecology Action Centre.
READ: Nova Scotia approves project burning up to 20 tonnes of tires a day
Lafarge given environmental approval in summer, waiting on industrial approval
In July, Iain Rankin, the province’s environment minister, approved a one-year pilot project that would allow Lafarge to burn up to 20 tonnes of tires each day as a low-carbon fuel for one of its kilns.
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According to Rankin, tire burning is a widely used practice across Canada, the United States and Europe. He says he looked at scientific data before giving environmental approval for the Lafarge project and that officials will be closely watching the results of the pilot project.
“The intent with the pilot study is to validate what was presented in the science and evidence which showed reductions in carbon and nitrogen and other emissions,” said Rankin.
When asked why the government had a change of heart and are now allowing a company to burn tires, Rankin replied “I’ve been in the Department of Environment for three months.”
“I don’t look at the emotions and people that have issues. I look at the science and evidence. That’s the only consideration when approval comes forward and I’ll make my decision based on that and only that.”
Butler says he has concerns about the idea of burning tires at Lafarge.
“The pollution control equipment that’s on the plant now is inadequate. If I was living nearby, I would be concerned,” he said.
“They’re burning a number of different fuels and all those fuels interact when they’re burnt and the chemistry is quite complex. We’ve seen with Northern Pulp that the government isn’t always as on top of polluters as we would like them to be.”
READ MORE: Lafarge Concrete Plant in Abbotsford destroyed in early morning fire
Ecology Action Centre ‘worried’ about tire burning
The groups believe the approval process allowing Lafarge to burn tires in Nova Scotia should have included more public engagement – including with Indigenous communities. They also say government relied “too heavily” on information provided by Lafarge or its partners.
Lisa Mitchell, the executive director of East Coast Environmental Law, believes an Environmental Bill of Rights is needed in Nova Scotia.
“The Minister of Environment could have consulted much more widely than he did, but chose not to, leaving citizens little recourse but the courts,” says Mitchell. “An environmental bill of rights would have provided safeguards as it did in Ontario when Lafarge sought approval to burn tires in that province.”
READ MORE: N.S. citizens file for notice of judicial review over Lafarge tire burning decision
Butler doesn’t believe the Dalhousie Study that government used to make their decision to issue environmental approval for the Lafarge project accurately looked at the risks associated with burning tires.
“I’m worried,” said Butler. “I’m worried about the air quality and health of citizens adjacent to the plant but also what was particularly upsetting about this decision is that we have a growing recycling industry. We have another use for these tires that use actually creates more jobs.”
Currently, all used tires in the province go to Halifax C&D Recycling Ltd., in Goodwood, N.S. The company was the first – and remains the only – tire recycling facility in Nova Scotia.
WATCH: ‘We could be faced with shorter shifts or layoffs’: Tire recycler concerned about future
“Lafarge is saying they’re doing this because they want to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. If that’s the case, then they should look at all combinations of fuels to reduce their carbon footprint. It’s our suspicion that they’re looking at tires because of the fact that they’ll actually get paid for burning tires, which is a pretty nice proposition,” he added.
The NDP say the bill introduced on Tuesday will be debated at a later date.
Lafarge making upgrades to Brookfield plant
For their part, Lafarge Canada says they have recently made some improvements at their Brookfield plant.
Karine Cousineau, a spokesperson for the company, says they have improved the electrostatic precipitator which controls dust particulates to improve efficiency. In addition, the kiln stack is equipped with an opacity continuous emissions monitoring system (CEM).
Coustineau says CEMS for Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Sulphur Dioxide are being installed in 2017, which she says will be “especially useful during the research to measure accurately and scientifically the performance of the new system.”
Lafarge expects to receive industrial approval in the fall and says technical planning has already started.
“The biggest single investment we are making to reduce emissions in Nova Scotia is the use of scrap tires as a low carbon fuel,” said Cousineau.
“We are confident that our upcoming demonstration project will conclusively show that not only are scrap tires a safe fuel, but will form a key part in reducing carbon emissions in the province. It is expected that using scrap tires will reduce NOx by 15 per cent and carbon emissions by 30 per cent for every tonne of coal replaced.”
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