Bio-en CLC Minutes, 4 March 2014

These minutes are available on the Bio-en Meeting Minutes page as Mar4_2014minutes.pdf (130.9 kBytes), and were mirrored on 29 April 2014

CLC Meeting March 4, 2014- Minutes

  1. Call to Order
    Earl Brubacher called to order the meeting of the CLC in Meeting Room 1 at the Woolwich Memorial Centre in Elmira at 7:00pm.
  2. Roll Call
    The following committee members were present:
    Earl Brubacher, Marg Tassy Kreller, Robert Musselman, Bob Gray

    Absent: Jerry Heidburt, Michael Purves-Smith, Earl Martin, Kevin Martin, Doug Thomas

    Guests attending:
    Derek Martin, biogas plant operator
    Jackie Lamport, Sr. Environmental Officer, Ministry of the Environment
    Amy Shaw, District Supervisor, Ministry of the Environment
    Jane Glassco, District Manager, Ministry of the Environment

  3. Approval of minutes of January 7, 2014 meeting
    Earl Brubacher presented the minutes and asked if there were any comments or questions.
    Questions & Comments: none
  4. Woolwich Bi-En – Construction update
    Earl Brubacher advised that buildings substantially complete. By the end of the current week, the power plant will be complete. The cold weather has delayed commissioning of some equipment.

    Equipment testing is starting. Both engines have been started and tested. Hydro One and Waterloo North Hydro are to test and synchronize the power feeds in the next week.

    The software programming for the main digester and plant will be done in March and April.

    Sometime in mid-March, one tank will start to be filled with feedstock. The initial feedstock will be manure from farms to the east of the plant. Earl Brubacher advised that the farms will need to agitate the manure prior to transport to the plant, so if there is an east wind when the farms are agitating the manure, there may be odours. Jackie Lamport suggested that the manure fill be postponed if there is an east wind in order to reduce possible complaints about odour. Earl advised that there is a timetable and OPA deadlines that need to be met and the tanks will need to be filled, even if the wind conditions are not the best.

    CLC Letter of Credit

    The CLC will need a legal entity in order that the letter of credit can be assigned to that legal entity.

    The legal entity can be an individual, a partnership or a corporation. What is the preferable form of legal identity for the CLC? It should comprise at least two members of the CLC (excluding Earl Brubacher) so that a bank account can be opened; two signing authorities on the account.

    The CLC members will need to determine who will set up the appropriate legal entity.

    Robert Musselman volunteered to investigate setting up a corporation for the CLC. Robert will bring the details to the next meeting.

    REA Amendments

    At a previous meeting the CLC members requested that notification be provided of any amendments to the REA.

    Earl Brubacher put forward the following notices of possible amendments to the REA:

    1. Supply RNG (renewable natural gas) to the Union Gas grid.
      • pilot project with Plein Disposal to supply trucks with RNG
      • Purified RNG would be injected into the Union Gas lines at the biogas plant
      • Union Gas would levy a transportation fee
      • a fueling station would be built at Elmira Truck Service to fuel trucks
      • municipalities are making use of RNG a requirement for contracts

       

      Marg Tassy Kreller asked about timeline for the project – Earl Brubacher replied at least a year out, but amendments to REA are costly and time consuming, so amending the REA now to allow for the possibility of the project.

    2. A neighbouring farm has a 250 kWH FIT contract and it will need to purchase biogas from Woolwich Bio-En Inc. to power its generator. At this point no decision has been made whether to proceed, however, an amendment to the REA will be required to allow the sale of biogas to the farm.
    3. Potential development of 50 acres of industrial land to the east of the biogas plant. There was some interest that the biogas plant could sell heat to heat buildings. No time frame, but an amendment to the REA would be required to allow the sale of heat.
    4. Additional feedstocks – as the biogas plant gets closer to being operational, the company is getting calls to see if certain feedstocks can be used, but these are not on the current list of feedstocks. In order to allow for potential future feedstocks, the company will be seeking an amendment to the REA to add these potential feedstocks to the list.

       

      Examples of additional feedstocks:

      • IC&I waste (Industrial Commercial & Institutional)
      • Paper sludge
      • Elevator grains
      • Mushroom waste (from mushroom farms)
      • Compost
      • Algae
      • Crop Residue
    5. Truck Movements – on the original submission, the company had indicated a limit of 80 trucks per day. The REA had gone through final reading, but when posted to the EBR it was changed to 80 truck movements (i.e. 40 trucks per day). The company will likely request an amendment to reinstate to the original 80 trucks per day.

      No amendments have been submitted as yet.

  5. Other Business:
    None.

    Comment from the floor – member of the public
    Woolwich Town Council has recently agreed to cover mileage for the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee (CPAC) and fund up to $10,000 for peer review. The CLC is urged to keep lobbying the Town Council for financial support.

  6. Next Meeting:
    Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at 7:00pm

    Location – Meeting Room #1 Woolwich Memorial Community Centre (space has been confirmed)

    The public are welcome to all meetings.

  7. Adjournment
    Earl Brubacher adjourned the meeting at 7:37pm.