OCAA calls on provincial by-election candidates to endorse 2009 Nanticoke coal phase out
Submitted by OCAA on Fri, 01/12/2007 - 00:00.
January 12, 2007 Nanticoke is Canada’s #1 air polluter OCAA calls on provincial by-election candidates to endorse 2009 Nanticoke coal phase out January 12, 2007 - The Ontario Clean Air Alliance (OCAA) is asking all candidates in the three upcoming provincial by-elections if they believe that the Government of Ontario should issue a legally binding regulation requiring the phase out of coal burning at the Nanticoke Generating Station by 2009. Nanticoke is Canada’s smog and climate change giant – the country’s No. 1 source of greenhouse gas emissions and a major contributor to poor air quality throughout the GTA. “Supporting a legally binding regulation to stop burning dirty coal at Nanticoke by 2009 will demonstrate real leadership on the crucial issues of air quality and climate change to the voters of Burlington, Markham and York South-Weston,” says Jack Gibbons, chair of the OCAA. The OCAA, he adds, is already offering an effective answer to how we can stop coal burning at Nanticoke while meeting the province’s electricity needs. The Government of Ontario can phase out coal burning at Nanticoke without reducing the province’s electricity supply by directing Ontario Power Generation (OPG) to convert Nanticoke’s boilers from dirty coal to cleaner-burning natural gas. The total capital cost of the Nanticoke conversion, including a new gas pipeline to Nanticoke, would be between $540 and $750 million according to the Ontario Power Authority. This cost is at least $1.2 billion lower than the cost of adding less effective end-of-pipe pollution controls to just some of Nanticoke’s units. Phasing out coal burning at Nanticoke would provide Ontario with approximately one-third of the total greenhouse gas emission reductions the entire province needs to achieve compliance with its Kyoto Protocol target for 2010. It would also help the province meet mercury emission reduction targets under the draft Canada Wide Standard on Mercury. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that is particularly harmful to children and pregnant women. On June 13, 2006, in response to pressure from the Association of Major Power Consumers in Ontario (e.g., Imperial Oil, St Marys Cement, PetroCanada), Premier McGuinty broke his promise to phase out coal burning at Nanticoke by 2009. According to Premier McGuinty, he is still committed to the eventual phase out of coal-burning at Nanticoke, but he has refused to issue a regulation with a legally binding phase out date for Nanticoke. In 2001, Ontario’s former Minister of the Environment, Elizabeth Witmer, established a legally binding regulation that required OPG to phase out coal burning at the Lakeview Generating Station in Mississauga by April 30, 2005. As a result, coal burning at Lakeview ceased in April 2005 with no unforeseen delays. “The electors in the upcoming by-elections have the right to know where the individuals who wish to represent them at Queen’s Park stand on this key public health and climate change issue”, said Jack Gibbons, Chair of the OCAA. The OCAA has asked the candidates to state their positions on the Nanticoke coal phase out by January 19, 2007. For more information please see our fact sheet, Nanticoke: The smog giant on our doorstep. -30- For more information: |