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Rules get Recycler smoking mad

Started by Tim, March 01, 2004, 10:03:07 AM

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Tim

Posted with permission
Another good article in the Ottawa Citizen by Kelly Egan
Rules get Recycler smoking mad
Environment officials want to snuff out fire


Kelly Egan
The Ottawa Citizen

February 18, 2004
Bob Beck is in the recycling business and is frustrated with government regulations controlling the burning of scrap wood.

CREDIT: Bruno Schlumberger, The Ottawa Citizen

Bob Beck, 46, recycles old wooden pallets in a steel-sheathed building near the Carp Road exit from the Queensway, just about where city fades to country in west Ottawa.

He built the little business from nothing, scrounging bits here and there, buying and moving an old building from Hydro Quebec, finding used saws where he could, to the point that he now employs about a dozen staff and might gross $1 million this year.

You don't make Forbes magazine this way, but you make a living.

Mid-afternoon, you will find the president of Ranger Enterprises in green work pants, a floppy tuque and a hooded fleece pullover, sitting at a wheeled chair in his office, sliding across a concrete floor.

The old wood trade has rough edges.

Mr. Beck lifts the garage door on the 10,000-square-foot building, letting in a blast of cold air, and leads the way to an outdoor wood furnace, about the size of a small garden shed.

"Here's the big offender," says Mr. Beck, opening the furnace door to reveal a modest fire, about two or three times the size you might find in a typical living room fireplace.

While most of the wood at Ranger is reused in new pallets, Mr. Beck burns scrap and broken pieces in the furnace, keeping it burning throughout the winter. The furnace is covered with a jacket of water, which is heated and pumped through a series of pipes beneath the floor of two buildings.

The beauty of the system, economically, is that Mr. Beck gets rid of his scrap pile and heats the premises at the same time.

In 1994, when he was setting up on the 1.2-hectare site, he asked the Ministry of the Environment about using the wood-burning furnace. Here is part of the reply, from environmental officer Brad Eckert:

"The burning of scrap wood on-site for building heating purposes and for residential heating is permissible and does not affect the site exemption because it is not part of the primary process or operation."

So Mr. Beck went ahead, installing a Pacific Western furnace common on many area farms, cooking up about 1,200 litres of water, seven days a week, round the clock. Ingenious, he thought, probably saving $1,000 a month in heating costs.

Then, apparently, came a complaint about the smoke.

Then, most certainly, came the environmental cops. Hello, Mr. Beck? Yes, it's about your wood furnace.

In April 2003, he was slapped with an order to submit an application for a certificate that allows the business to discharge wood smoke into the air. The application must be done by a qualified consultant; it must include a "site-wide" emissions summary; it must rely on a "dispersion modelling report"; it must be done by July 15.

Mr. Beck was struck by something else. The name on the order was Brad Eckert, the same officer he felt had approved the furnace in the first place. (Mr. Eckert could not be reached yesterday and a ministry spokesman could not explain.)

"We recycle, we reuse things, we use stuff that would go to the dump to make hot water to heat our buildings," says Mr. Beck. "I don't know how you can say we're not environmentally friendly."

Mr. Beck inquired into the possibility of converting his furnace to gas. The estimate came in at close to $28,000.

He has already moved his furnace once to satisfy a complaint from a neighbour and has increased the height of the chimney, so that the smoke exhausts that much higher. He has contacted several of his neighbours and at least eight have agreed, in writing, that the smoke is not a nuisance.

"I don't know why three guys can't get together and work this out. Now we've got 33 people together and maybe a hearing in Toronto? It makes you sick."

Mr. Beck has hired a lawyer and is appealing the order.

Why his wood-burning furnace in an industrial park is a polluter, subject to regulation, and 1,000 or 10,000 wood-burning fireplaces in the city are not, is something that will no doubt be addressed.

The travails of Ranger Enterprises come at a time when the countryside is already up in arms over the continuing intrusion of government in their daily lives. Pick up any Ottawa Valley weekly newspaper these days, and you will likely find groups agitating for change, if not revolution. Cries for civil disobedience are common.

Sawmills being inspected for piles of bark; farmers being asked to formulate complicated manure management plans; outrage over crop loss from hungry deer; sugarbush operators being taxed like industries; beef farmers being hammered in a cross-border dispute; rural Ottawa residents, after having their townships taken away during amalgamation, losing more services in last week's draft budget.

And now an assault on the producers of wood smoke?

Scott Murray, the lawyer representing Ranger, said his client made a point of consulting the ministry before he bought the boiler to ensure he would not run afoul of their regulations.

He's now shaking his head. "What the hell more can the guy do?"

Contact KELLY EGAN at 596-8496 or by e-mail, kegan@thecitizen.canwest.com

© The Ottawa Citizen 2004

Eastern White Cedar Shingles

Tim

Eastern White Cedar Shingles

VA-Sawyer

The Goobernuts ( Proper spelling for elected officials ) work the same here.  After hurricane Isabel we had FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) going around giving Grant checks to help people out. Now they are sending out letters wanting the money back, and making pretty rash threats to those that don't poney up. Front page story in local paper.
We didn't ask for any money because we weren't hit all that hard. Figured it would be better spent on those that got really clobbered by the storm. I really glad that we didn't ask. Now they are getting clobbered again by Uncle Sam.
This is all our own fault for not being smarter when we vote. Why don't any intelligent people ever run for office ?
VA-Sawyer

slowzuki

To be fair one would have to see his installation.  Some wood burners are real smokers.  That has been discused elsewhere on the forum.
Ken

Tim

Irregardless Ken, I saw the approval letter from the MOe first hand. Mr. Beck went above and beyond by inreasing the draught on his furnace. Furthermore, the MOE has stated that units that are used to generate heat are not within their concern. Mr. Beck's unit heats his operation.

The MOE doesn't play fair by anymeans...
Eastern White Cedar Shingles

slowzuki

Sorry Tim, wasn't thinking of MOE, more the local businesses and their clients.  I don't think the MOE needs to get involved, just going to waste a bunch of money!  I'm sure if someone had a problem with it the guy would work with them as he has moved it once already.

We have had dealings with the Fire Department in Winnipeg as they have asked a clients outdoor furnace be moved away from thier pallet storage.  Not for air quality reasons obviously, they seem pretty open to discussion and comprimise there.

Hopefully all parties can work it out.
Ken

isawlogs

  Va_Sawyer
   The probleme I think is that they are all, well most of them ,inteligent people before they get into office, it's after they set foot in there that things turn ,.... We should give them all outdoor offices the fresh air would do them good
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

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