I am a Durham resident and…

I am a Durham resident and engineering student and there are several issues I find very concerning about the proposal by St. Marys Cement to burn garbage. Firstly, after reading the Emissions Modeling Data I was very troubled to find a 1400% increase in mercury concentrations predicted at one of the measurement sites. Mercury is an extremely toxic substance linked to numerous health problems and should always be avoided to protect human health. I was also troubled to see that several dangerous substances (PM2.5, NOX, SOX) had not been prorated from the trial results to operating capacity, especially when doing so would have put the data near or in exceedance. Lastly, I am concerned with the completeness of the proposal given that only a single test trial was successful and analyzed. Garbage is not a standard fuel source and has an extremely variable composition regardless of which processing techniques have been applied. As seen in the proposal, only half of the trials were even able to meet the facility’s operating requirements. We live in a time where engineering innovations are moving the world towards a greener future where both the economy and environment can thrive. However, burning garbage to replace conventional fuels is not an innovative nor environmentally friendly choice and can only yield negative impacts to both human health and the natural world. I am hopeful that the Ministry will take a comprehensive and detailed assessment of this proposal with these concerns and others in mind to make informed choices that are best for its citizens.