The NRCB decision on the HAZCO sulphur terminal near Bruderheim

July 29, 2009 by Walter Schneider.

Just a couple of minutes ago, a television reporter, accompanied by a camera man, showed up at our door and wanted to interview me regarding yesterday’s NRCB decision in favour of HAZCO’s application for the construction of a sulphur processing and shipping facility just 3 km east of Bruderheim and 6 km NE from the Town of Lamont.

By the way, the Edmonton Journal article on the NRCB decision (Jul. 29, 2009, bottom of page B3) gave incorrect distances to Bruderheim (2 km) and Lamont (10 km) from the HAZCO sulphur facility, but that reflects no more than the shoddy journalism that we have become accustomed to on this issue over the years.

Shoddy journalism is not necessarily the only reason why I refused to be interviewed on camera, but the CBC reporter was obviously inadequately informed to be able to perform an interview.  I explained that I had been working quite hard over the years on the HAZCO sulphur issue, that it appears that for all intents and purposes the Friends of Lamont County had given a fair and accurate presentation of the evidence at the NRCB hearing in April, and that on the balance of the evidence the decision should have gone against the HAZCO application.  However, now the decision has been made, and the development will most likely go forward.

There is nothing more I wish to do on the issue.   One heart attack is enough for me.

Aside from that, the CBC reporter was ill prepared to conduct an objective and informed interview.  She knew virtually nothing about the issues at stake and had obviously not made much of an effort to educate herself.  I did not ask her whether she had read the NRCB decision, but it appeared that she had not read it nor that she ever heard of or looked for the website in support of the Friends of Lamont County, at http://www.folc.ca. Nor did she even ask who I was or what my involvement in the discussion over the years had been.  Even though I gave her a number of leads that should have been part of an in-depth interview, it seemed that she was looking for nothing more than an opinion survey spiced up with sound bites.

I did tell her that I was not opposed to a sulphur processing and shipping facility, provided that it would be located a minimum of ten to 15 miles away from populated areas or population centres.  She did not ask what I base my preference on.  That illustrated to me that she did not have a clue as to how critical the distance of such a sulphur facility from residential properties is, and how much of a risk the facility poses to Bruderheim and area.

If you are a concerned resident of Lamont County, you may wish to refresh your memory on that.  Check the following links:

• Proposed Waste-Sulphur-Storage and -Handling Facility
• Environmental Impact of SulphurHealth-Impact of Sulphur
• Sulphur Poisoning
• Sulphur Fires

When the NRCB decision on the HAZCO sulphur facility will now be approved by the provincial cabinet, it will be nothing more than one of the first steps that will lead to a general exodus of residents, such as that which has been in progress in Strathcona County and led to the depopulation of the Industrial Heartland there over an interval of about 30 years.

Instead of promoting the thriving of rural life in the County of Lamont, the imposition of the creation of the Lamont-County portion of the Alberta Industrial Heartland and the licensing of oil-industry-waste processing facilities such as the construction and operation of the HAZCO sulphur facility will be the death of rural life and agricultural industry in the vicinity of Bruderheim.

Bruderheim and surroundings will gradually come to be seen no longer as an oasis in the vicinity of the petrochemical industrial area of Alberta (the largest such area in the world) but will come to be seen as being threatened by being at the centre of waste-processing facilities associated with Alberta’s petrochemical industry.

The only thing to do that is left to me and the members of my family is to make sure not ever to cast our votes for any party or political entities who made that happen.

Let’s hope that, when the music stops and the dance is over, there will be enough money to repair the damages.  It appears that the NRCB decision will not make certain of that.

Posted in Town of Bruderheim, Community & Industry, Hazco | Print | 2 Comments »

The NRCB hearing (Starts April 14, 2009)

April 11, 2009 by Walter Schneider.

The NRCB hearing of HAZCO’s application for the construction of a sulphur-forming, -storage and -shipping facility between Bruderheim and Lamont (less than two miles east of Bruderheim, SE of the junction of Highway 45 and Range Road 2002) will begin April 14, 2009 and last an estimated four days.

The location for the hearing: Lakeview Inn & Suites, 10115 - 88 Ave, Fort Saskatchewan

The start of the hearing: 9:00 a.m., April 14, 2009

Here is an important note by FOLC’s lawyer, Richard Secord, dated April 08, 2009:

…We heard back from the Board this afternoon and we have been given 2 hours to present our direct evidence.

Best regards,

Richard C. Secord, B.A., LLM

Barrister & Solicitor

The NRCB hearing is crucial to the future of the people who live in Lamont County.  What is at stake is essentially whether Lamont County — at the very least the areas that have been rezoned Heavy Industrial, and the areas adjacent to them — will within the space of a few years become as devoid of residences as is the Industrial Heartland in Strathcona County.

HAZCO’s sulphur facility poses a threat to residents within a large radius from its location (including the residents of Bruderheim and Lamont).  That is what is at stake at the NRCB hearing beginning on Tuesday.

It is in the best interest of every single resident of our county to attend.  It is especially in the interest of the residents of Bruderheim and Lamont to attend.

A good number of concerns by Lamont-County residents have not yet been addressed satisfactorily.  It is our health, our lives and our wellbeing that is at stake.

Make sure you are there!

 Lakeview Inn & Suites

10115 - 88 Ave, Fort Saskatchewan,

April 14, 2009, 9:00 a.m.

Posted in Town of Bruderheim, Community & Industry, Pollution: Health Issues, Hazco | Print | 1 Comment »

A report on the Jan. 27, 2009 NRCB pre-hearing conference

January 27, 2009 by Walter Schneider.

Today’s Natural Resources Conservation Board (NRCB) pre-hearing conference, in relation to HAZCO’s proposed sulphur facility between Bruderheim and Lamont, took place at the Lamont Recreation Centre.  It was well attended by Lamont County residents and other interested parties.

The NRCB pre-hearing conference set out to identify the following:

1. a discussion of the major issues to be examined at the hearing;

2. the appropriate scope and jurisdiction of the review;

3. the location for a hearing, the appropriate timing of a hearing (the NRCB believes March 17, 2009 may be an appropriate hearing commencement date), and deadlines for filing hearing submissions;

4. a discussion of procedures to be followed at the hearing;

5. requests for advance intervener funding, and

6. other matters

(Source: Notice of Pre-Hearing Conference - December 3, 2008 at NRCB website)

The NRCB panel chairman stated that a hearing location closer to or containing a business center (e. g.: with facilities for copying, printing and Internet access) will be more appropriate and suggested therefore that the NRCB hearing of the HAZCO application will take place in Fort Saskatchewan, beginning with April 9, 2009 being a proposed date for HAZCO to respond to interveners’ submissions, and with April 14, 2009 being the likely date on which the NRCB hearing will commence.

The NRCB identified all of the submissions that had been made and received prior to the pre-hearing conference.  Those are shown in the following list, and each can be accessed by clicking on a given entry in that list.

1. Lamont Health Care Centre

That submission states:

The Board of Management has once again debated the proposed development of a sulphur plant AST/HAZCO Environmental Services.  While it is not opposed to industrial development, it is of the opinion that such a plant will not be advantageous to our community, and therefore this application should be denied.

The reasons for that position are contained in the document accessible at the preceding link.

2. Lamont County

1. Part 1 - Letter to NRCB

That letter informs the NRCB that Lamont County is continuing its review of the application by HAZCO, that the county has concerns, and that HAZCO’s application has been rejected by the County’s development authority, the Municipal Planning Commission (MPC), as per the decision attached to the letter.

2. Part 2 - Letter to Hazco

In that letter, the Lamont County informs HAZCO that, against “the backdrop” of the MPC’s decision to reject HAZCO’s application, “Lamont County continues to review the application information submitted by Hazco Environmental Services Ltd. (the proponent) to the NRCB,” but that the County continues to have several outstanding concerns…”, which concerns are then explained in more detail and discussed in the remainder of the letter, i. e.:

1. Risk Management and Emergency Response;
2. Ongoing Operational Impacts;
3. Cumulative Effects, and
4. Ongoing Compliance and Reclamation.

3. Part 3 - Municipal Planning Commission documents

Notice (dated April 12, 2006) of Decision (dated April 11, 2006) of Municipal Planning Commission, informing HAZCO that its application has been denied, with the reasons for that decision being attached  (contained in the set of documents accessible via the preceding link)

3. Town of Bruderheim

Excerpt from that letter:

….we feel it necessary to share the following issues with the Natural Resources Conservation Board for the pre-hearing conference taking place on January 27, 2009.

1. The concern is for the health and safety of the residents of the Town of Bruderheim. The proposed facility will be processing sulfur and its byproducts. Although the “Worst Case Scenario” information indicates that during an explosion residents may not be immediately exposed to lethal qualities of sulfur and its byproducts, we are concerned about the long term health risks associated with an explosion and its after effects.
2. Further, we are concerned about any long term health risks that our residents may be exposed to due to improper storage and handling of sulfur and its byproducts.

The Town of Bruderheim does not want to present itself or its residents as being anti-industry or anti-business; however, our objective is to protect the quality of life for our residents and our community.

4. Leslie Jans

Leslie Jans expressed concerns that, as she stated in that letter, “have not changed since this all started”, namely concerns about: Air Quality and Public Health; Increased traffic on an already busy and overcrowded highway; Reduction of Property Values, and The Risk of Fires.

In particular to her fourth concern, Leslie Jans stated, “We also have two members of the Lamont Fire Department in our family, let alone all of the other volunteer Firefighters in our community. Risk their lives/health for a facility that employs 16 people and feeds a conglomerate giant?

5. Friends of Lamont County (FOLC) The following list (taken from the documents listed at the preceding link) will lead to documents that provide the basis of the submission by FOLC.

1. FOLC - Tab 1 Contacts List
2. FOLC - Tab 2 Appendix to Screening Report
3. FOLC - Tab 3 Maps
4. FOLC - Tab 4 Dr. Hyne CV
5. FOLC - Tab 5 Dr. Hyne Budget
6. FOLC - Tab 6 Dr. Batterman CV
7. FOLC - Tab 7 Dr. Batterman Budget
8. FOLC - Tab 8 Dr. Coppock CV
9. FOLC - Tab 9 Dr. Coppock Budget
10. FOLC - Tab 10 Mr. Gettel CV
11. FOLC - Tab 11 Mr. Gettel Budget
12. FOLC - Tab 12 Mr. Picard CV
13. FOLC - Tab 13 Mr. Picard Budget
14. FOLC - Tab 14 Mr. Farquharson CV
15. FOLC - Tab 15 Mr. Farquaharson Budget
16. FOLC - Tab 16 Secord and Chipiuk CVs
17. FOLC - Tab 17 Legal Counsel Budget
18. FOLC - Tab 18 AUC Rule 009
19. FOLC - Tab 19 NRCB IFAAC Application Form

Mr. Secord, the lawyer acting for FOLC, presented an outline of concerns by members of FOLC at the NRCB pre-hearing conference, pointing out that sulphur processing, storage and shipping is not risk-free, that indeed sulphur-related incidents have led on some occasions to the evacuation of thousands of people, to the loss of health and lives of many, and to much damage to property, especially considerable damage to agricultural crops and life stock.

He used as an example an outline of the circumstances and consequences of a disastrous sulphur fire near Cape Town, South Africa.  That fire, produced many thousands of tonnes of sulphur dioxide gas that was blown by strong winds towards a nearby town at a distance that was greater than that separating Bruderheim and Lamont from the site of the proposed HAZCO sulphur facility.

Moreover, Mr. Secord pointed out that the sulphur storage pile that had caught on fire in South Africa in 1995 was considerably smaller in size than the sulphur storage pile envisioned by HAZCO to be in place for Phase I of their proposed facility.  HAZCO proposes that Phase I of their proposed project will require a storage pile that would be as large as 45,000 tonnes of sulphur prills, while Phase II would increase the size of the storage pile to as much as 90,000 tonnes.

Hazco’s lawyer voiced concerns over Mr. Secord’s estimate of the costs required for his involvement and over the costs of the expert witnesses that are slated to provide input at the upcoming NRCB hearing, stating in essence that the expert witnesses have overlapping fields of expertise and, moreover, have histories of having testified in the past on sulphur issues related to sulphur-forming processes that are being used by HAZCO’s competitors, for which reason it would be overkill to spend so much money (in the order of $200,000) on evidence that is already well-covered by HAZCO’s Environmental Impact Assessment study.

Mr. Secord responded by stating that, if one were to listen to HAZCO’s lawyer’s advice, it would perhaps be much better to have no NRCB hearing at all.  However, given that HAZCO had about seven years to work on what they are presenting now, it would only be reasonable to give those who oppose HAZCO’s application a little time and resources to have their say.

The pros and cons of that discussion at today’s NRCB pre-hearing conference are (as is everything that was presented and discussed) to be contained in full in a transcript at the NRCB website, most likely to be listed at Alberta Sulphur Terminals Ltd./Hazco Environmental Services - Sulphur Forming and Shipping Facility.

HAZCO wanted it to be known that some members of FOLC had written (apparently after the Jan. 21, 2009 deadline for submissions) to the NRCB and that those people had expressed concerns that are not in line with the submission filed by FOLC.

Mr. Kennedy of the NRCB identified just before the closing of the NRCB pre-hearing conference that letters by two or three additional individuals had been received late and just on the morning of the day of the pre-hearing conference

None of those letters are contained as of today in the NRCB’s list of pre-hearing submissions.

The decision by the NRCB in consequence of today’s prehearing conference will be made in writing and is supposed to be posted to their website.

Posted in Community & Industry, Town of Bruderheim, Explosions & Fires, Pollution: Health Issues, Hazco, Emission Incidents & Issues, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | No Comments »

Rotex Energy plans to build oilfield waste plant near Bruderheim

October 28, 2008 by Walter Schneider.

Fort News

New company has $5M plan for part of ERCO site

Rotex Energy plans to build oilfield waste plant near Bruderheim

Posted By Conal MacMillan / Record Staff

2008 10 28

A new oilfield waste disposal company is planning to invest $5 million in a site southeast of Bruderheim in order to take advantage of the increasing amount of waste being produced by oil and gas companies in the region.

Rotex Energy Ltd. is proposing to build an oilfield waste management plant in Alberta’s industrial heartland three kilometres outside the Town of Bruderheim. The site would take oilfield waste, heat it in vessels to separate its three components — oil, water and sludge — and then dispose of it either underground or through re-sale because it can’t be disposed of in conventional landfills….(Full Story

Posted in Town of Bruderheim, Community & Industry, Pollution: Health Issues | Print | No Comments »

Alter NRG’s Bruderheim IGCC power facility put on back-burner

October 27, 2008 by Walter Schneider.

Seeking Alpha

Alter NRG Changes Course to Build Up Cash Flow
by: FP Trading Desk October 22, 2008 | about stocks: ANRGF.PK

FP Trading Desk

In a new strategy to weather the financial credit crisis and build up its cash flow, Alter NRG Corp. (ANRGF.PK) is changing course, putting on the back burner two of the company’s main engineering and construction projects, the Bruderheim IGCC power and Fox Creek coal-to-liquid facilities.

Fraser Mackenzie Ltd. analyst John Safrance wrote in a research note:

….Trading as high as C$6.75 in May of this year, Alter NRG shares have been decimated in the global sell off over the past few months. So much so that after losing another C$0.10 in trading Wednesday morning, the stock now valued at C$0.90 is trading below Mr. Safrance’s estimated cash value for the company of approximately C$56-million or C$1 per share….(Full Story)

________
It seems that the possibility of receiving government grant money for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a major motivator for the construction of Alter NRG’s Bruderheim power plant.  However, it appears that the Alberta Government’s generositywill be stressed somewhat on account of the current market price of crude oil (in the order of $70) falling seriously short of projections that were based on estimates of an anticipated price of $115 per barrel.

CCS for the Alter NRG Bruderheim power plant is a bit of a red herring.  CO2 is neither a pollutant, nor is it proven to be the cause of global warming.  The major pollutant that would be produced by the Bruderheim power plant is a massive amount of water vapour that, with the prevalence of common temperature inversions layering during the winter, would quite likely produce massively dense fogs in the Bruderheim area, fogs that are now often already so dense that they frequently make driving extremely hazardous.

In the absence of government grants for CCS, the viability of the sales of electric energy to be produced by Alter NRG, given that initially it would depend on relatively expensive and rapidly depleting natural gas, is somewhat at risk in an energy market that will quite possibly see shrinking demand due to the escalating financial world crisis.

Posted in Town of Bruderheim, Community & Industry | Print | No Comments »

Alter NRG power plant east of Bruderheim put on ice

October 22, 2008 by Walter Schneider.

Alter NRG Project Development
—————————–

As a means to reduce Alter NRG’s capital requirements the Company has adopted a more stepwise approach for internally-led projects in development.

Based on a slowing economy that may affect the outlook for power development in Alberta, Alter NRG will be delaying the decision to proceed on phase one of the Bruderheim power facility until the spring of 2009. Development of the first phase of the project had already commenced with the intention of having the 120 MW natural gas combined cycle (”NGCC”) facility operational by early 2010.

In the spring of 2009, the Company will assess combining the two phases to complete the Bruderheim integrated gasification combined cycle (”IGCC”) project that will convert petroleum coke and oilfield waste into 120 MW of power - including design for carbon capture and storage (”CCS”). Delaying the development of phase one of the Bruderheim project is expected to reduce the near-term capital requirements for 2008 and 2009 to under $2 million. Using this reduced budget, the Company will continue to advance project engineering, government grant applications and a strategic partner selection process to advance the Bruderheim IGCC project with an expected completion date of the IGCC facility in late 2011.

Alter NRG is also reducing project development expenditures on the Fox Creek coal-to-liquids project which is expected to produce up to 40,000 barrels per day of diesel fuel and naphtha from Alter NRG’s existing coal reserves. The Company expects to spend less than $3 million in 2008 and 2009. The Company will continue to advance engineering work to further define the project scope, advance government grant applications and continue to seek strategic partners. The delayed timeline will impact the final completion of the development until late 2015, subject to successful partner selection by the end of 2009….(Full Story)

_____________
Previous comment (Sept. 17, 2008) on the Alter NRG proposal that would put a power-generating plant into operation just half a mile east from the eastern boundary of Bruderheim.

Posted in Town of Bruderheim, Community & Industry | Print | No Comments »

Alter NRG Corp. finalized purchase of Erco Site, in Lamont County, east of and adjacent to Bruderheim

September 17, 2008 by Walter Schneider.

Alter NRG Corp. announces the finalization of the plant siting for the first Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) power facility in Canada.

TSXV - NRG CALGARY, Sept. 15 /CNW/ - Alter NRG Corp. (”Alter NRG” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has closed the previously announced acquisition of a project site in Bruderheim, Alberta (approximately 60 kilometers northeast of Edmonton) for $3.1 million, including $0.6 million in costs related to settlement of existing transmission commitments. The Company plans to use the site to develop Canada’s first IGCC facility with the first phase to be operational as early as 2010. On commencement of operations, the facility is expected to be capable of producing approximately 120 megawatts (MW) of electric power using a blend of natural gas as well as synthesis gas (syngas) produced using Alter NRG’s proprietary plasma gasification technology. The facility will be designed for carbon capture and storage (CCS) with approximately 600,000 tonnes per year of captured CO2 to be injected into nearby geological formations or used at nearby oilfields in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects….(Full Story)
_____________
Comments by folc.ca : It is obvious that lawyers had a heavy hand in wording the long list of exceptions and cautionary notes stated at the end of the Alter NRG news release, under the heading, Advisory Respecting Forward-Looking Statements. The list of exemptions shown there is very long. In combination with that list, the following key statements contained in the Advisory loom large and heavy:

The forward-looking information and statements included in this news release are not guarantees of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon….

The Company cautions that the foregoing list of assumptions, risks and uncertainties is not exhaustive. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to applicable securities laws.

Translating the legalese into English for normal mortals and in the process condensing it into something that is more useful, what that means then is that, quite possibly, none of the information in the news release by Alter NRG is necessarily final or subsequently true after having been published.

The news release contains information that should worry people living close to the proposed Alter NRG power generating plant, some within less than half a mile, with the eastern boundary of Bruderheim being as close as half a mile to the plant.

The following identifies a few of the statements contained in the news release and also some of the concerns relating to them.

1. On commencement of operations, the facility is expected to be capable of producing approximately 120 megawatts (MW) of electric power using a blend of natural gas as well as synthesis gas (syngas) produced using Alter NRG’s proprietary plasma gasification technology.

Comment by folc.ca: Natural gas is a natural resource that is the primary fuel for home heating in Alberta. Alberta’s natural gas is also a resource that is rapidly being depleted, as a result of which the price of natural gas is escalating.  The production of electric energy from natural gas and its substitute, syngas, is wasteful and will increase the demand for natural gas and syngas. That will cause increases in prices for gas used for home heating.

2. The facility will be designed for carbon capture and storage (CCS) with approximately 600,000 tonnes per year of captured CO2 to be injected into nearby geological formations or used at nearby oilfields in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects.

Comment by folc.ca: The news release states nothing about the fact that CO2 is not a pollutant. More importantly, the news release makes absolutely no mention of pollutants that the plant will produce and how those will be dealt with, so as to prevent their injection into the environment, for instance, nitrous oxides and sulphur dioxide, of which especially the latter has the potential of creating serious and very harmful degradation of the local and general environment.

Nevertheless, there are issues of great concern that directly relate to the scheme for CO2 capture, transport and disposal.

The process of CO2 capture and injection into nearby geological formations requires transportation of an average of 1,700 tonnes of CO2 each day.  How will that be done and by what means?  If the transporting is by trucks, that means that there will be an enormous increase in road traffic, in the order of an average of at least 280 trucks a day (assuming an average of six tonnes of CO2 carrying capacity per truck), about 12 trucks every hour (assuming that the trucks operate around the clock) and considerably more than that if the trucking operations cease during the night.

Furthermore, the logistics of the whole process seem daunting and are not likely to work without flaws or bottlenecks.  If CO2 capture, transporting and injection into the ground should at any time and for any reason be below the required average of 1,700 tonnes per day, will the power plant be shut down, or will it make use of as yet unidentified buffer storage on site?  That storage facility will have to be substantially large and be capable of containing CO2 under great pressure.

Nothing is perfect.  The storage and transporting of large volumes of CO2 present dangers to people and property in the vicinity of the plant and transportation routes.  Aside from the increased likelihood of vehicle accidents in Bruderheim and vicinity, what are any other dangers the scheme of CO2 capture, transporting and injection will pose to residents in the area?

3. The project is expected to be completed in two phases in order to take advantage of near-term capacity needs in the Alberta power market.

Comment by folc.ca: Alter NRG cannot be faulted for wanting to take advantage of the increasing market demand for electric energy. However, the escalating shortage of electric energy is a result of the Alberta government’s failure to create effective policies for the construction of large-scale power plants for the generation of electric energy. That massive problem will not be solved by increasing reliance on Band-Aid solutions, such as energy production through wind-turbine farms (of primary benefit only to the main producer of wind turbines in North America: General Electric) and through natural-gas-fired power plants.

Electric energy production from natural gas or syngas will add to demand for natural gas and for syngas. That will drive up the price for home-heating fuel and for fertilizer (the price for fertilizer is presently at about $2,000 a tonne).

4. NGCC facilities are the cleanest fossil fuel power generation technology available today.

Comment by folc.ca : That statement is true, but it is not all of the truth. Aside from increasing the demand for natural gas — with associated price increases, the demand for increased production of natural gas will also increase the production of sulphur. Especially new natural gas sources produce sour gas, meaning gas that must be stripped of its large content of hydrogen sulphide before it can be injected into the Alberta gas distribution system.

The inventory of Alberta’s waste sulphur is presently at about $11 million tonnes. Large-scale use of natural gas will escalate Alberta’s problems with issues arising from stockpiling waste sulphur.

Canada is one of only two nations in the world (the Russian Federation being the other one) that presently and unreservedly permit the stockpiling of waste sulphur. Large scale electric energy production from coal can without a doubt be made to be as clean as that from natural gas. The current technology for that is to store waste sulphur produced from coal-fired power plants in the form of relatively inert gypsum (much like the gypsum pile at the Agrium Fertilizer Plant south of Redwater).

5. The regulatory process is underway, as regulatory permitting is critical for early implementation of the first phase. The Company expects timely issuance of the required permits.

Comment by folc.ca : Whatever it may mean that the “regulatory process is underway,” that process has not yet progressed to the point where any of the residents who are concerned parties in the vicinity of the proposed power plant have been formally notified of any hearings or other aspects of the required “regulatory process” and environmental reviews.

6. The second phase of the project will use petroleum coke and oilfield waste, which are both available in the nearby area, to create syngas using the Alter NRG proprietary gasification system.

Comment by folc.ca : Neither that statement nor anything else in the Alter NRG news release mentions that petroleum coke and oilfield waste contain potentially very large portions of sulphur and other pollutants that need to be stripped from either those primary fuel sources or from the syngas produced from them or from the flue gases of the Alter NRG power generating plant, so as to meet environmental pollution parameters dictated by Alberta Environment.

What will Alter NRG do with the pollutants, such as waste sulphur, it would produce at its proposed power generating plant to be located just a few hundred meters east of Bruderheim?

7. The Bruderheim facility will capture up to 90% of the CO(2) produced by the plasma gasifier (up to 1,700 tonnes per day) which is expected to be sold to oilfield producers in the nearby area for EOR.

Comment by folc.ca : What that means is that ten and more percent (how much more is left unspecified) of the CO2 produced will not be captured.

Still, the fact is that CO2 is not a pollutant, and that no one should worry about it, except people like Al Gore (who makes a good living from the brokering of carbon credits and from promoting the fears required to make that carbon credit brokering a viable enterprise).

However, we must worry about the pollutants that the Alter NRG news release does not mention at all. It is worrysome in the extreme that the Alter NRG news release does not mention any pollutants other than the ostensibly polluting but in reality environmentally-beneficial CO2.

_________________

Without a doubt, benign and even environmentally-beneficial CO2 is a major component of the emissions of the power generating plant proposed by Alter NRG.  Still, another potentially benign and major component of the proposed power plant’s effluents, water (not mentioned by Alter NRG), will in all likelihood have a very detrimental impact on the environment in the immediate vicinity of the proposed power plant.

Water is a major by-product of the combustion of hydrocarbons. The water vapour that would come out of the flue stacks of the proposed power plant would be invisible for varying distances from the flue stacks. However, the distance of that invisibility varies with the weather — humidity and temperature.

In extremely cold weather, the water vapour turns into a large cloud that, depending on local weather conditions, lingers in the local environment and adds to the often and increasingly severe fogs that have become more and more prevalent in and around Bruderheim.

Given that the fog to be produced by the proposed power plant will contain sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxides, the fog will be acidic. Alter NRG stated nothing about that. That is extremely worrying and needs to be addressed in the environmental review process for the plant, of which, so far, we have heard absolutely nothing.

SULFUR COMPOUNDS (SOx)

The primary reason sulfur compounds, or SOx, are classified as a pollutant is because they react with water vapor (in the flue gas and atmosphere) to form sulfuric acid mist. Airborne sulfuric acid has been found in fog, smog, acid rain, and snow. Sulfuric acid has also been found in lakes, rivers, and soil. The acid is extremely corrosive and harmful to the environment….

Historically, SOx pollution has been controlled by either dispersion or reduction. Dispersion involves the utilization of a tall stack, which enables the release of pollutants high above the ground and over any surrounding buildings, mountains, or hills, in order to limit ground level SOx emissions. Today, dispersion alone is not enough to meet more stringent SOx emission requirements; reduction methods must also be employed….

Flue gas desulfurization systems are classified as either non-regenerable or regenerable. Non-regenerable FGD systems, the most common type, result in a waste product that requires proper disposal. Regenerable FGD converts the waste by-product into a marketable product, such as sulfur or sulfuric acid. SOx emission reductions of 90-95% can be achieved through FGD. Fuel desulfurization and FGD are primarily used for reducing SOx emissions for large utility boilers. Generally the technology cannot be cost justified on industrial boilers.

Emissions Cleaver Brooks Package Boiler Systems 2002 08 17

Note: Given the escalating world sulphur glut, converting “the waste into a marketable product” requires solutions that have not yet been found to be practical or viable. Still, it is wrong or only partially correct to state that “Generally the technology cannot be cost justified on industrial boilers.”

The controlling factor is not cost justification (that would make it a discretionary option) but environmental regulation and is therefore mandatory, not an option. –Walter

–Walter Schneider
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Related story:  Alter NRG powerplant east of Bruderheim put on ice (Oct, 22, 2008)

Posted in Community & Industry, Alternative Energy Sources, Town of Bruderheim, Explosions & Fires, Acid Rain, Hydrogen-Sulphide, Emission Incidents & Issues, Nitrogen-Oxides, Sulphur-Dioxide | Print | 1 Comment »

Run-off-water problems at the proposed location for the Sage housing development

July 22, 2008 by Walter Schneider.

Letter to Dave Dubauskas, Chief Administration Officer of the Town of Bruderheim

2008 07 22

Hello Dave,

The proposed location for the Sage housing development, the 135 acres north of the Walker School, sure is a wet place, a flood plain and bad place for the construction of a residential subdivision intended to house 1,300 people.  Topographically, the proposed area is at the lowest elevation in Bruderheim.  It is a swampy flood plain that has become seriously inundated with run-off water on at least three separate occasions during the 35-year interval that I lived in this area.  The watershed area draining into that flood plain is at least 30 square miles in size.

Quoted from the article at the following link The Proposed Sage Housing Development in Bruderheim (Published 2008 07 20):

It can only be hoped that our town council does not become blinded by short-term gain to ignore long-term pain.  Doug Maschmeyer knows how to prevent from becoming ensnared by the Sage development.  In leaving the information session, he said: “You won’t sell me a piece of property in that development!”

Let’s assume that the development will go through and that one of those floods that happen on average every dozen years or so in that area comes about.  It will be an easy job even for a junior lawyer to sue the pants of the Town of Bruderheim.  There is no way that such a flood could be called an act of God.  All of the massive damages that would be caused by such a flood would be due to neglecting to use proper care and attention….

…it would be far more practical and a lot cheaper for contractors, home owners and opportunistic developers alike to build homes on land that doesn’t flood as often as does the area for the proposed Sage subdivision.  Last but not least, that would also be far safer, financially, in regard to the risk the Town of Bruderheim would expose itself to if it were to issue permits for the construction of a residential subdivision on a flood plain that is quite literally the low point of the topography of Bruderheim.

Dave, please be so good and forward this message to Jack Lambert.  It appears that the e-mail address I have for him no longer functions.

All the best,

–Walter Schneider

P.S.: By the way, check http://bruderheim.ca/FAQ.htm. Some of the information contained in that web page is inaccurate (e. g.: the composition of the Town Council is wrong). –WHS

Cc: Various members of the public, media and town council

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The Proposed Sage Housing Development in Bruderheim

July 20, 2008 by Walter Schneider.

July 20, 2008

By Walter Schneider

The proposed location, 135 acres located north of the Walker School, sure is a wet place, a flood plain and bad place for the construction of a residential subdivision intended to house 1,300 people….(Full Story)

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Bruderheim and Lamont County involved in Edmonton area growth management

December 2, 2007 by Walter Schneider.

Edmonton growth management

By Sun Media

The capital region needs a governing body that can make binding decisions, says Mayor Stephen Mandel….

A group calling themselves the Cooperative Municipal Partnership – made up of Strathcona, Sturgeon, Parkland, Leduc and Lamont counties, as well as the town of Bruderheim – recently issued a release stating their opposition to a regional board that would have binding powers….

The province is expected to roll out its growth management plan for the region on Dec. 14. (Full Story)

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