Waterkeeper objects to garbage pellets proposal for Lafarge

Earlier this month, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper filed our formal objection to Dongara Pellet Factory Inc's proposal to have all of its customers exempted from customary mandatory hearings under the Environmental Protection Act.

Dongara recently received approval from the Ministry of the Environment to begin producing pellets of municipal solid waste in Vaughan, Ontario. Known “Enerpax fuel pellets,†these pellets are designed to be used as an alternative fuel source. One of the specific end uses is “to displace the use of coal in cement factories ...†To our knowledge, this would be the first time a specific brand is exempted from Ontario's environmental rules if the request is approved.

Waterkeeper expressed our grave concerns that Dongara's proposal would shield the Lafarge Alternative Fuels project from the scrutiny of a public hearing under Ontario's environmental rules. Since this issue is currently the subject of a leave-to-appeal application to the Environmental Review Tribunal, we asked the Ministry of the Environment to deny Dongara's request.

You can read Lake Ontario Waterkeeper's official submission on our web site