Photo: The chapter was an active member of the Burning Issues coalition against the incinerator.
Council of Canadians activist Paul Manly writes, “Congratulations to all of the Mid Island Council of Canadians chapter members and everyone in the community who stepped up for the fight against the proposed garbage incinerator (for Metro Vancouver garbage) in Nanaimo. We won! …A bunch of us were lined up to speak Monday night and didn’t even make it to the podium before the council voted unanimously to tell Metro Vancouver to forget it. …Thanks for helping with the banners, the march, the meetings, the petitions, the letters and the phone calls.”
The Nanaimo Daily News reports, “Nanaimo council voted unanimously Monday to rule out the city’s support for a proposed waste-to-energy incinerator in Duke Point, just weeks after voting 6-3 to hear more details about the idea before making a decision. They received a standing ovation from hundreds who showed up to watch the vote. Councillors have been taking heat over the issue for weeks. Municipal inboxes have reportedly overflowed with messages urging Nanaimo officials to rule out their support for the proposal.”
The Vancouver Observer adds, “The Duke Point location was proposed by a consortium of marine transportation company Seaspan, US incineration giant Wheelabrator Technologies and Spanish environmental company Urbaser. Seaspan had proposed to barge garbage from the Vancouver area, across the Strait of Georgia to the incinerator site at the company’s terminal on Duke Point. …There are currently two proposals for out-of-region incinerators, at Duke Point and another Aquilini family backed proposal for Port Mellon on the Sunshine Coast.”
And the Vancouver Sun notes, “A Seaspan spokesman concedes Nanaimo is strongly opposed to the idea, but (Nanaimo mayor John) Ruttan says Metro Vancouver could still push ahead because Seaspan owns the land in question and the property is zoned for industrial use.”
Manly says, “The fight isn’t over. We need to oppose the other proposed garbage incinerator sites in BC and we need to push to have this anything goes zoning at Duke Point changed so we’re not fighting another carbon and toxin spewing proposal there in a couple of years!”
