Incinerator developers, take note. One more community has mounted a successful defence against a proposal for "waste-to-energy."This one happened in record time.
Citizens in the interior BC town of Kamloops (pop. 83,000) apparently got wind of a proposal to install an incinerator in their community on August 18th. It went down in a unanimous vote of disapproval by Kamloops City Council on September 1st.
The project had the Canadian Pacific Railway behind it -- the plant would get rid of their creosoted wood ties.
There was also the suggestion of support from First Nations people -- the proponent was called Aboriginal Cogeneration Corporation. First Nations are sharply divided on waste projects in this province, and this division is cynically exploited by opportunistic entrepreneurs.
But the community threw up an amazing website with a rich menu of actions to take -- and the community stood up and took action. Almost 200 people showed up at the City Council meeting on a couple days' notice.
Along with Christina Lake, Kamloops was a wake-up call for the incinerator industry and the governments who think waste-to-energy is our future. We want real economic development that builds our communities.
Congratulations, Kamloops!
Pic ~ Kamloops city website.
2 comments:
Good news Helen. Thanks for keeping us informed about these issues
Incinerator May still be going ahead full-steam. The federal and provincial government are funding this operation and have given the go head, and have chosen not to perform a mandatory Environmental assesment.
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