Sydney resident calls for
Shutdown of incinerator
By Tanya Collier
A concerned citizen and
member of the Joint Action
Group (JAG) is asking for a
shutdown of the regional
incinerator and a public
inquiry after locating partially
burnt biomedical waste in
the facility’s landfill.
Marlene Kane of Sydney
said she visited the Cape
Breton Regional
Municipality’s (CBRM)
incinerator – located on
Grand Lake Road – two
weeks ago and videotaped
and photographed used
syringes, other rubber and
plastic material and hospital
clothing in the ash.
“It’s full of biomedical waste
that is unburnt.”
Kane has voiced her
ongoing concerns about the
incinerator’s performance to
municipal, provincial and
federal representatives for
the past two years. Each
time she has been told the
incinerator is meeting
suggested guidelines.
In fact, the provincial
government did an
assessment that concluded
the incinerator units at the
CBRM facility are meeting
requirements for “good
combustible practice during
the incineration of
biomedical waste.”
Paul Oldford, manager of
solid waste at the CBRM,
said the pictures and video
taken by Kane are
“dramatic” but the
biomedical waste is not a
problem.
“In the incineration process
you expect to get about 95
per cent reduction by
volume, which is what we do.
You do expect to get some
unburnt material, which is
about five per cent by
weight. We’re well within the
guidelines.”
Oldford said the material
goes to a lined landfill that is
managed to contain all the
materials and the leachate is
monitored.
Parking lot puddle cause of concern
Chronicle Herald, February 5, 1999
SYDNEY - Nova Scotia Power has been told to cordon off a
puddle that has formed in a parking lot beside the contaminated
tar-pond watershed.
Environment Department spokesman Lawrence MacDonald
said there was an investigation after a Sydney resident
complained about a puddle in the parking lot of the Sydney
Shopping Centre on Prince Street.
The mall is built on top of an infilled part of the Muggah Creek
Watershed, which includes the former Sysco coke-oven and
tar-pond site.
Mr. MacDonald said the muddy puddle was formed after the
utility drilled anchors to erect 19.5-metre poles. "The whole area
is suspect," he said.
Next Article on biomedical waste
Return to Main Page
Contact Muggah Creek
