Burning Vancouver’s trash in Gold River to generate electricity could have millions of dollars in spin-off benefits for Campbell River.

Covanta Energy Corporation and Green Island Energy are proposing to convert the old Gold River pulp mill into an incinerator, using the energy to run two power boilers and generate 90 megawatts of electricity for Vancouver Island’s electricity grid. They also propose to build a processing facility in the Lower Mainland which would dry, shred and bale Vancouver’s trash for transportation by barge to Gold River.

An economic impact study prepared for Covanta in May 2009 by Dr. Roslyn Kunin and Associates claims the project will create new jobs for the ailing Vancouver Island economy.

“On the economic side, the Gold River project will transform an abandoned pulp mill into a functioning facility and create stable and well-paying ‘green’ jobs in B.C., replacing vanished forestry-based jobs,” said Kunin, a former director of the Business Development Bank of Canada. “The timing of the project is ideal in that increased economic activity, job creation and rising tax revenues are exactly what the B.C. economy needs right now.”

The study says the pulp mill could be transformed into an energy-generating facility in three years and that it will be valuable to the provincial economy.

“The value of labour, material, and other inputs that will come from within the province is $515 million (including $175 million for labour and $340 million for building construction, engineering planning, etc.),” says the study.

As well, it says, 350 jobs will be created during each year of construction. The study also estimates that if the project were to operate for 20 years, it would create more than $632 million in economic activity and more than $30 million in provincial taxes.

Local jobs, ‘clean’ energy

Campbell River could benefit from some of the construction work, and local workers could possibly even find regular employment at the energy facility, if it is constructed.

The study also claims the burners will have a “positive environmental impact,” cleanly incinerating trash rather than piling it in landfills.

“The production of relatively low cost, clean energy will help BC remain competitive and attractive to additional investors and job creators in the parts of the province where they are needed. In particular, it will help offset the energy deficit faced on Vancouver Island,” it says.

The project already has the support of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations in the Gold River area who “stand to benefit from training, internships and other economic opportunities in a community that has an unemployment rate of over 50 per cent,” the study says.

Covanta operates similar facilities throughout the United States and sees huge potential in burning trash to generate electricity.

“We could create enough renewable energy to completely eliminate the use of oil for electric power in the US,” said company president Anthony Orlando in a promotional video on the company’s website.