By Cathy Dobson, from www.theobserver.ca The Observer
For five years, Newalta Corp. has taken mobile units to local refineries where they recycle industrial waste materials and make the bulk of it reusable.
Now the company wants to build a permanent facility on Scott Road where more than 1,000 tonnes of waste per day would be transferred from the site for disposal.
The plan is to build offices and a new shop by the end of 2014. The second phase, including a processing area, water filtration treatment, a centrifuge process building, and a tank farm for the storage of waste waters and hydrocarbons, would be built by the end of 2016, said spokesman Tim Bechard.
None of the waste will remain on site, he said. Materials will be pre-treated and volume-reduced at the new facility, then sent to other facilities for more processing, recycling or final disposal.
Newalta intends to continue providing mobile services even after a permanent plant is built, Bechard said.
“Why build your own plant? Processing on customer sites isn’t always an option due to space restrictions,” he said at an open house held Tuesday as part of the 14-step environmental screening process.
A permanent facility also allows for the handling of smaller quantities to be consolidated for processing,” said Bechard. That will make recycling industrial waste cheaper for some of Newalta’s smaller clients and expand the list of services provided to larger customers, he said.
The environmental screening process considers everything from the impact on surface water quality to the effect on the natural environment and ecosystems.
In particular, detailed consideration will be given to:
• a groundwater monitoring program;
• a stormwater management plan;
• air quality;
• noise;
• traffic; and
• the natural environment.
“The point of this open house is to ask the public what kind of studies need to be done,” Bechard said.
Newalta has acquired four hectares formerly occupied by Fibrex Insulations where the existing building will be demolished to make way for new construction.
The site is a brownfield, a feature that appealed to the company, said Bechard. “We didn’t want to be taking farm land or chopping down trees. This property was essentially abandoned and properly zoned.
“It really is a good site for us.”
In Sarnia, Newalta is currently focused on hydrocarbon recovery, separating oil, water and solids with centrifuge technology.
“For instance, when a refinery does a tank clean out, we can give the oil and water back to the refinery, and then we’ll be left with 5% to 10% of the original volume, which is just the fines and grit and the stones.
“That’s what goes to the landfill if there’s no alternative use for it.” Generally, the “cake” still contains hydrocarbons and is sent to a hazardous waste facility.
It’s possible that in years to come, Newalta will seek approval for technologies to strip the hydrocarbons from the cake too, Bechard said.
“The Ministry of Environment has asked us in our discussions with the public to be upfront with them, and if there’s something you want to do down the road, tell them today. Don’t surprise them,” said Bechard. “So we’ve identified that here as a future possibility.”
Apart from hydrocarbons, Newalta will also handle a variety of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes such as aqueous salts, acid and alkaline solutions and fuels at its facility.
Bechard said the Calgary-based company already has about a half-dozen similar waste recycling plants operating in Ontario.
The next step in seeking environmental approval involves a series of studies to assess environmental impacts. Another open house with the results will likely be held in the fall.
For details on the project, visit www.newalta.com/SarniaECA