Covanta Energy Corporation (Covanta Energy) and Green Island Energy has announced the results of an economic impact study of proposed energy-from-waste facility. The study shows 350 construction jobs and 575 indirect jobs will be created by building and operating the facility in Gold River, British Columbia. Staffed by 130 full-time employees, the facility can convert municipal solid waste produced by Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island into 90 MW of clean, renewable energy annually.
The study, conducted by Roslyn Kunin and Associates, estimates that the redevelopment of the shuttered Gold River Pulp and Paper Mill into a state-of-the-art Energy-from-Waste facility will generate over $500 million dollars in economic activity during construction and another $30 million in economic activity annually once operational.
According to a recent waste management report commissioned by Metro Vancouver, an Energy-from-Waste facility located within the province is among the favored options for dealing with the region’s one million tonnes of municipal solid waste that will require disposal after the Lower Mainland has achieved a recycling rate of 70% by 2015.
“The project will provide many benefits. First, it will have a positive environmental impact, as the facility would be using renewable resources to produce clean, reliable energy. On the economic side, the Gold River project will transform an abandoned pulp mill into a functioning facility and create stable and well-paying “green” jobs in BC, replacing vanished forestry-based jobs,” said Kunin, an award-winning labour economist and forecaster and former director of the Business Development Bank of Canada. “The timing of the project is ideal in that increased economic activity, job creation and rising tax revenues are exactly what the BC economy needs right now.”
In addition to providing economic opportunity, the project would significantly reduce Metro Vancouver’s need to export waste to the US, reduce the amount of waste landfilled, and reduce traffic congestion and emissions in the Lower Mainland.
“The privately financed project will create new jobs, generate critically needed clean energy, and provide flexibility for regional governments to meet their waste diversion and recycling objectives,” said Seth Myones, president of Covanta Americas. “We believe the Gold River project would receive the highest ranking in a public procurement process that evaluates critical metrics such as siting, socio-economic considerations, cost, environmental impact, and First Nation support.”
The project has received the endorsement of the Village of Gold River, Strathcona Regional District, Vancouver Island Health Authority and the Council of Chiefs of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations.
“This is a unique opportunity for Gold River to bring much needed employment to our community,” said Craig Anderson, mayor of Gold River. “Our local government and the entire Village of Gold River has been steadfast in its support for this project throughout the public consultation, zoning and environmental permitting process.”
Covanta Energy is a developer and operator of energy-from-waste and other renewable energy projects.