Abitibi Consolidated will have to find alternatives for the disposal of its paper waste sludge.
Abitibi Consolidated will have to find alternatives for the disposal of its paper waste sludge.
According to a recent report by St. Catharines Standard, the company penned an agreement with the province of Ontario this week, confirming it will no longer discard its sludge in berms, like the one in Fenwick.
The Standard reported Paul Nieweglowski, head of the Ministry of Environment as saying, “it’s a good step forward, a big step.” Nieweglowski has received a vast amount of complaints from Fenwick residents since the spring construction of the berm. “I think [the agreement] will provide some comfort for citizens,” he said.
The berm was originally constructed as a sound barrier, in order to block out noise from trains. Abitibi has consistently maintained that the 36,000 tonne pile of paper sludge does not present any sort of environmental threat, however, provincial testing has concluded that runoff from the berm does indeed have negative environmental ramifications.
Abitibi is now investigating the potential of incinerating the 400 tonnes of paper waste it churns out on a daily basis.
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