Ottawa — It is safer to keep Ontario's 100,000 tonnes of PCB wastes in secure storage than to proceed with the Ministry of the Environment's December 2001 plan to destroy the wastes within three years, concludes the Pembina Institute in its comments on the Ministry's plan, filed under the Environmental Bill of Rights today.
"The province does not currently have capacity to destroy these wastes safely, and serious questions have been raised about the way in which Ontario's existing PCB incinerators, located in Cornwall and Northumberland County, were approved," said Dr. Mark Winfield, Director of the Pembina Institute's Environmental Governance Program. He adds, "Exporting Ontario's PCBs is no solution either, given the history of environmental problems with the Swan Hills incineration facility in Alberta, and risks of spills and accidents associated with the long distance transportation of these materials."
"Rather than rushing ahead with this ill-considered scheme, the province needs to undertake a proper public review of its PCB destruction needs, and the technologies, including non-incineration alternatives, available for this purpose," concluded Dr. Winfield.
PCBs were widely used in electrical equipment and other applications until the late 1970's, when their manufacturing and use began to be progressively banned due to concerns over their environmental and health impacts. PCBs are recognized as carcinogens and developmental toxins. The incineration of PCB wastes can result in the generation of dioxins, substances considered 100,000 times more toxic than PCBs.
The Pembina Institute expressed its support for other aspects of the Ministry's December proposals, including the adoption of US-style restrictions on the land disposal of untreated hazardous wastes, but highlighted the need for similar modern standards for other types of disposal, such as incineration.
For more information contact:
Mark Winfield, Ph.D
Director, Environmental Governance
Office: 613-235-6288 ext. 25
Email: markw@pembina.org
For additional information download the Pembina Institute's comments filed under the Environmental Bill of Rights regarding Strengthening Ontario's Hazardous Waste Management Framework (Next Steps) (pdf file — 31Kb).