Cambridge residents worried about a proposed biosolids plant have been given at least a temporary reprieve.
Savage Drive in Cambridge’s east end had been the preferred location of the final two sites suggested for the $80-million plant, ahead of the Waterloo landfill.
This spring, Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig and a number of residents waged a vocal campaign against locating the plant in their city.
Now, Region of Waterloo officials say they’re taking a step back on the overall project, citing an ongoing review of regional waste management services and a new direction signalled by the provincial government on long-term energy.
“We aren’t really pressed to make an immediate discussion, so we want to step back, take a look at these other options and then bring it back,” regional chair Ken Seiling tells CTV News.
Nancy Kodousek, the region’s director of water services, says one of those other options could be giving more examination to biofuels – turning solid waste into energy.
Currently, solid waste within the Region of Waterloo is processed and dewater into a material that can be used as a fertilizer.
Some of that material is then shipped outside the region, as there is more than enough of it to fill local demand.
Roy Maraffino, who lives near Savage Drive, says he’s happy to hear about anything that might mean a biosolids plant won’t be built in his neighbourhood.
“This is such a nice area. I’d hate to have it potentially ruined by something going in like that,” he says.
Among Maraffino’s concerns about living near a biosolids plant are the potential for odours and water quality issues, as well as noise from an increase in passing trucks.
