The right idea, but the wrong location.
That’s what Robin Roberts thinks of Stratford’s plan to build a “natural gas” plant at its wastewater treatment facility.
The city currently produces methane using a pair of anaerobic digesters at the plant.
The plan is to build a $20 million facility that turns that methane into natural gas.
That would be enough to power more than 9,000 homes.
Stratford’s plan involves bringing in organic food waste from across southwestern Ontario.
If that were to happen, it would mean as many as 16 trucks would be going in and out of the facility every day.
Neighbours say that amount of truck traffic is a concern.
“This is a residential area with a lot of seniors,” says Roberts. “That many trucks coming and going could be dangerous.”
A 'natural gas' plant could bring a lot of money into the city argues Ed Dujlovic, Stratford’s director of Infrastructure and Development Services.
The province is pushing to have every municipality implement a green bin program by 2025.
That would create a consistent and growing supply of organic waste to run the proposed plant.
“If our targets are met, the payback for this project is about seven years,” says Dujlovic.
Stratford council will take another look at the project on January 13.
