As noted in an earlier website posting, The Haliburton Wildlife & Forest Reserve Ltd. is proposing to build a Biochar plant on Kennaway Drive, on the south side of Drag Lake. They have applied to the Township of Dysart et al for a zoning by-law amendment to permit the construction of a 13,000 square foot structure on land previously occupied by a sawmill which has been closed for a number of years. The area is primarily residential and is roughly a mile from the shores of Drag Lake
Our President, Karl Gonnsen attended the Planning Committee meeting and an information session to express concerns about what is proposed and to find out more information. Whatever concerns there might be, the Board recommended approval with little discussion, and with a number of questions left unanswered.
The matter then went to Dysart Council. Members of the DSLPOA executive attended the Council meeting, and expressed concerns to the Reeve, Murray Fearrey, and to our Councillor for Ward 2, Dennis Casey. Council seems to recognize that there may be some problems with the proposed Biochar plant, but approved the by- law amendments in principle, and deferred passage until they have more information and feedback from the Ministry of the Environment.
It is not surprising that more information is needed, as this is a new and developing technology. Researchers are interested in converting sawdust and waste wood to biochar to sequester carbon. Biochar is reported to be useful for containing moisture in soils and scrubbing mercury released when coal is burned.
Biochar is made by heating sawdust and other wood waste under low oxygen conditions. Biochar, liquids and gases are produced. The gases are typically mixtures of CO2, CO, H2, and H2O (called synthesis gas– syn gas for short).
The firm in Iowa that sold the biochar pyrolysis reactor to the Haliburton Wildlife and Forest Reserve is a start-up pilot facility spun out of Iowa State University. They state that this is their first commercial unit.
It is important to know how well they have characterized the gas and liquids that will be produced, both as to quality and quantity, and how they will monitor these. What is the composition of the liquid and gaseous byproducts? What will they do with the liquids? Will a scrubber be included in the equipment? How will they control particulate emissions? What will they do with the syn gas?
There is also the question of whether or not this is a waste facility, in which case the bylaw amendments to date and Official Plan will not permit such a plant to be built on this property. It is fairly clear that, as even Council acknowledges, there are many questions that need to be answered and clearances and permits to be obtained, and we will be following that process closely.
The re-zoning by-law may be brought back before Council in January of 2017. The executive of the DSLPOA is hoping to meet with Haliburton Biochar early in the New Year to learn more about the plant and the process.
I too attended the public planning meeting and the information session. I heard at the last of these meetings that Mr. Gonnsen had provided a list of questions, 21 I believe, to Haliburton Forest Biochar. I also heard a commitment from HFB to respond to these questions within a short time. Although I have asked our executive for these questions and answers to be posted on the DSLPOA website, I have not seen this done and would like to ask when we can expect it to be done. I have also indicated to the executive that I am supportive of the zoning bylaw amendment because it will take away the ability to remove aggregate from the property – one less pit in the neighbourhood is a good thing in my opinion. I appreciate the fact that our executive is asking questions and seeking information for us, but I would like to view the answers and information as provided so that I can form my own opinion about the proposed facility.