Town stays on sidelines as county plans syn-gas plant

The Town of Stettler intends to contribute nothing more than its garbage to the county’s proposed syn-gas plant, expected to begin construction late next year.

Town officials say they’re not sold on the plant that uses a system called pyrolysis that will produce a gas from garbage to generate power. What’s more, the town doesn’t plan to contribute any money toward it.

“We didn’t want to be stuck with something at the end of the day that our homework suggests isn’t (viable),” said Coun. Malcolm Fischer. “We just weren’t willing to make the gamble with taxpayers’ money.”

Although official numbers weren’t immediately available, it’s believed Prairie Bio-Gas, the group the county is working with to build the facility, was looking for more than $1 million from the town and another million from the county. That includes money for a new building, as well as money to transport the pyrolysis machine from the U.S.

Fischer said that was too rich for a system that hasn’t been proven.

“We didn’t want to end up with the white elephant if the thing doesn’t work or becomes a money pit,” he said, pointing to a similar syn-gas project in Red Deer County that still hasn’t become viable.

Fischer said a previous trip by town representatives to examine Prairie Bio-Gas’ prototype machine in the U.S. made the town weary of its effectiveness.

But county communications officer Shawna Benson said the county is moving ahead with the project without the town’s support and is currently awaiting final approval from regulators before beginning construction.

“We’re done and we can’t wait for them to come along,” she said. “It’s profitable to run it, which is why we’re pursuing it.”

Benson added the benefits to the county of diverting tonnes of garbage annually away from the landfill far outweigh any perceived risk.

“It’s way less money to build than any kind of pyrolysis unit that (other counties) are building, or the city of Edmonton,” she said. “It’s so small scale, but workable for our size of landfill.”

The town is a benefitting partner, Benson said, because Stettler would see its trash diverted to help prolong the lifespan of the landfill.

“Recycling this garbage in this manner ensures we don’t have to expand our landfill for a long time,” she said. “The town is still benefitting because they don’t have to contribute to a $10-million landfill upgrade in the next five years.”

But Fischer said the condition of the landfill is not ringing any alarm bells for the town just yet.

“Depending on which expert you consult with, our landfill isn’t in any kind of dire condition,” he said. “From our perspective, the transfer site is working just fine. The projected life of it is just fine and the potential for loss here, we feel, is far greater than the benefit of that.”

Prairie Bio-Gas first brought the project to the town and county seven years ago and, since then, progress on the project has moved slowly.

Fischer said the town wants to examine newer technology before committing to any type of syn-gas project.

“We wanted to look at those before we jump into anything with taxpayers’ money,” he said.

Jim Ireland, president and C.E.O. of Prairie Bio-Gas, contends his technology works, but declined to comment on why the town wouldn’t partner with his company and the county.

“It’s very different technology (from Red Deer),” he said, adding the long delay in bringing the project to fruition was caused by funding challenges, permits, studies and other matters that are finally coming into place.

“But we’re up and going and that’s what matters.”

The plant is slated to be constructed at the current landfill site. The county is currently applying for environmental permits and approvals from the utilities commission. That process is expected to take until next year. Construction is expected to begin by late 2013.