Burnaby garbage incinerator operator sued over pollution concerns


The Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District is suing Maxxam Analytics International Corp. and Covanta Burnaby Renewable Energy ULC for Supposedly failing to properly test fly ash samples in the district waste-to-energy facility in Burnaby.

The district filed a notice of civil conflict in BC Supreme Court on October 16. Covanta, according to the claim, works the incinerator plant under contract with the district, and the facility generates fly ash that has to be treated before leaving the plant tested monthly to guarantee compliance with hazardous waste regulations.

Non-hazardous fly ash is accepted and disposed of at the Cache Creek landfill, the claim says. Samples examined by Maxxam at the summer and fall of 2012, however, came back suggesting elevated levels of cadmium that exceeded acceptable amounts allowed for disposal at the landfill.

The outcome, the district asserts,”called into question the effectiveness of the treatment of fly ash” at the facility, forcing the plaintiff to incur costs by requiring more sampling and analyzing, investigating the cause of the elevated cadmium levels and finding another disposal site for fly ash in Alberta. Following the Ministry of Environment struck on the district using an advisory letter of non-compliance, the plaintiff hired”consultants, experts and legal counsel” to help investigate.

An audit of Maxxam’s lab found that it did not follow proper methods, known as the”Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure” and the”United States Environmental Protection Agency Method 1311″ to test the fly ash, according to the lawsuit. The Ministry of Environment’s assessment found Maxxam’s results unreliable because of improper testing procedures and found that”Covanta’s quality control and quality assurance protocols at the WTEF [Waste-to-Energy Facility] were not sufficiently developed to determine if leachability was occurring or if a problem with the treated fly ash and/or the treatment system was occurring,” the claim states. Additionally, the ministry found that Covanta couldn’t easily”provide assurance that the treated fly ash fulfilled the toxic waste requirements under the Hazardous Waste Regulation.”

The district seeks damages for negligence, misrepresentation, negligent operation of a service and breach of contract. The allegations have never been proven in court and the defendants hadn’t filed responses to the promise by press time.


Posted in incinerator-uae.