Nanaimo City Council meetings are often as stimulating as watching paint dry or grass grow but tonight promises to be one of the more entertaining offerings of the year I suspect.
Last December you may recall Councillor George Anderson tried to slide in a motion that would have told Vancouver we don't want to burn their garbage before we had any information about the proposed energy from waste facility.
In one of their more lucid moments, Council opted to table Anderson's motion until the Metro Vancouver public consultation process is complete.
According to tonight's council agenda Councilor Brennan will be asking council to lift the tabled motion and vote on sending a letter to Vancouver saying we have no interest in an EFW facility at Duke Point.
The agenda item reads as follows:
“65513 - It was moved and seconded that Council table consideration of Councillor Anderson’s motion regarding Council’s non-support of a waste-to-energy facility in Nanaimo until a Regular Council Meeting to be held after the Metro Vancouver public consultation process is complete.”
Since this meeting last December there has been an organized effort to bring pressure to bear on council to send the letter to Vancouver clearly saying we do not want an energy from waste facility at Duke Point. While the group is well organized and vocal they can't tell you specifically what the proposed facility will actually mean in the way of economic or environmental impact, all they can tell you is that they don't want to burn garbage from Vancouver.
I have heard the question posed to gather signatures on a petition in which they basically ask people if they are opposed to Nanaimo burning Vancouver's garbage. Who wouldn't sign that petition? I would. If you ask people if Nanaimo could solve it's future garbage problems by using an EFW built by Vancouver instead of building one of our own, you might get a different answer.
Those opposed seem to demonstrate some interesting contradictions. For example, Councilor Anderson said he was opposed to the idea of burning Vancouver's waste, but might consider an incinerator to deal with our own waste. I have talked to some who are adamantly opposed to an EFW plant, but not based on concerns about emissions but rather seeing it as a threat to a zero waste policy they embrace. There seems to be the notion that an energy from waste plant would somehow see material that could be recycled diverted to the EFW plant.
Still not enough information and what is the hurry anyway?
The motion to table Anderson's motion was not to be considered until a Regular Council Meeting to be held AFTER the Metro Vancouver public consultation process is complete. To my knowledge that process is not complete and arguably the conditions of the motion have not been met, and therefore this whole process could be out of order.
Other than this is an election year, and there is a vocal minority writing council and marching with signs you really have to wonder what the urgency is to kill this proposal without any meaningful information?
The fact our own landfill will be full in 10 - 15 years and that we are either going to have to find another dump, or ship our waste someplace else or build our own energy from waste facility makes it seem short sighted to not at least know the facts before attempting to kill the current proposal.
Whatever happens tonight, it promises to be one of the more lively meetings of the year, as I suspect the gallery will be full of passionate NO Burner supporters complete with signs and banners.
This meeting might actually be better experienced at home watching on Shaw #4, curled up on the couch with some nice fresh popcorn.
Again, a BANG-ON EDITORIAL!
ReplyDeleteThe vocal minority should never be allowed to run-over the silent majority - if they do it's the fault of CITY COUNCIL.
This whole anti-WTE debacle is being fostered by enviorenmental scare tactics with little backing, a NIMBY attitude and certain councillors bowing to special interest groups for the vote.
RUBBISH!