Northern Daily News
Monday, January 7, 2002
 
Headline: Views shared
Subheadline: Bennett proposal discussed at local public meeting
 
Rick Owen
Kirkland Lake:
 
Both the proponents of theBennett Environmental's proposal and the opposition brought in their experts to discuss the pros and cons of having a soil decontamination facility built in Kirkland Lake.
 
The event, held Saturday at Northern College, was sponsored by the Temiskaming Federation of Agriculture and drew about 150 people.
 
Bennett Environmental was represented by Danny Ponn, vice president and chief operating officer for Bennett, Dr. William Mills, a consultant to Bennett, and Dr. Bob Willis, chairman of Cantox, a consulting firm used by Bennett. Public Concern Timiskaming was represented by Dr. Neil Carmen, a former incinerator inspector for Texas and who now works for the Sierra Club, and Dr. Paul Connet, a professor at St. Lawrence University who specializes in impactive toxic metals and risk assessments.
 
Bennett is currently going through an environmental assessment as part of the company's attempt to locate a soil treatment facility that will use incineration in Kirkland Lake.
 
The expert panel was given equal time to present each of their cases. There was a presentation by TFA President John Vanthof, followed by a question and answer period and a summation by the panel afterwards. Ponn said there is a definite need to clean up contaminated sites because, through various mechanisms, the contaminates are leaving the sites into ground water and the air.
 
"This is a compelling reason to clean up sites" he said. "The longer you wait to clean up sites, the more diluted the contaminates get and the more soil that has to be treated."
 
The COO said most of the soil to be treated at the proposed Kirkland Lake site will come from Canada and the United States. The Kirkland Lake site was chosen because of easy access to contaminated sites.
 
Ponn said the specific site in Kirk land Lake was chosen by a citizens committee. The town provided the committee with eight potential sites and they chose the one on Archer
Drive.
 
Bennett is a 100 percent privately owned company and the company founder John Bennett has been in the environmental business since the 1960s. Ponn said the service they offer is the destruction of waste, using thermal destruction.
 
He noted that the company has an excellent operating record in Quebec and that the proposed Kirkland Lake plant would be similar, but double in size. The proposed Kirk land Lake facility will receive contaminated soil, prepare the soil, thermally treat it and, in most cases, dispose of it without restrictions.
 
Ponn said they only use transportation companies that are licenced to carry hazardous goods and that the trucks are lined andsealed. As well, the receiving building is under negative pressure and any air that escapes only leaks into the building and not outside.
 
 
The plant can handle material up to two inches in diameter and any material over that is crushed before being treated.
 
The thermal process that Bennett uses, was developed by them in 1984.
 
Ponn described the process as very simple and capable of destroying organic contaminates to about 10 percent of what is allowed under licence.
 
"In short, we have put the technology against the highest standards in the world and we can meet them," said Ponn.
 
The COO said the plant will be only a minor source of dioxins and furans.
 
In terms of employment, Ponn said the construction phase will equate to 90 man years of employ ment, there will be 33 to 35 permanent jobs and about 44 transportation jobs.
 
To date, the company has commissioned 12 studies and Ponn said these indicate that there will be no unacceptable risk to human health, plants and wildlife.
 
As well, the facility will have little or no impact on the farm belt, according to information currently provided.
 
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Note: The above headlines and article appeared on the front page along with a large photo of James Bay MPP Gilles Bisson at the microphone asking a question showing few people in the audience. Gilles asked his question near the end of the day, after five hours of presentations and  questions. Many people had left when the photo was taken. There were also two short articles on page three of the NDN which will sent out shortly. This is the most irresponsible journalism that I have ever seen (I don't usually comment on the articles that are sent out).