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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1999-04-28, Page 37r Wednesday, April 28, 1999 Exeter Times -Advocate 3, Hensall compost facility mothballed The Hensall elevators can ship their waste to another landfill site cheaper than operating the compost facility i By Kate Monk TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF i HENSALL — The Hen- sall Compost Facility was built to extend the life expectancy of the Hen- sall Landfill Site and dis- pose of screenings from the elevators in an en- vironmentally -friendly manner but high oper- ating costs have lead to the facility's demise. The facility's man- < agement committee closed the facility for the winter and did not re- open it this spring. Al- though the facility ope, - ates at the Hensall Land- fill Site in Usborne Twp., it operates independently of the village. Built in 1992, the facil- ity accepted grain and bean screenings from W.G. Thompson &, Son, Cook's and Ilensall Dis- trict Co-op facilities in Hensall and green waste from llensall residences. The landfill site only had a few years left at the rate it was being filled in '92 and the composter was seen as a way to ex- tend the life by diverting waste. The three companies each contributed $160,000 to the con- struction costs and the province also helped with funding. The Village of Hensall - contributed the land base and $42,000 for a tub grind- er. Although the village owns the facility, user fees paid for the opera- tion. Dale Good of W.G. Thompson & Sons said the tipping fees are too expensive and the com- panies can more cheaply truck the screenings to another landfill site. Good said his company was paying a flat rate per month which trans- lated into $50 per metric tonne in tipping fees at the composter. He didn't rule out the companies returning to the Hensall composter but said the tipping fees would have to be re- duced to $10-15 per tonne before it would be economically feasible. Good said two factors haven't worked out as well as had been hoped for the experimental fa- cility. First, the "through put" was half of what POLICE BRIEFS • POLICE BRIEFS was anticipated and sec- ondly, the material was not as easily composted as hoped. Although the weed seeds were killed, the material wasn't fully composted and had to be put into wind rows for three to six months to al- low the composting pro- cess to continue. "It's a shame that the facility's there and not being used," Good com- mented, adding as new technology develops, the facility may be operated in the future. Hensall clerk -treasurer Luanne Phair hopes this isn't the end of the line for the facility. She ad- mits the current biomass processor was a proto- type and updating the equipment would cost money. But the compost pro- duced was the best in the province, Phair said, and was popular with gardeners. The product was sold in bulk to minimize han- dling costs and never caught on with a large distributor such as White Rose or other companies. Reeve Cecil Pepper said the elevators made the decision to take the screenings elsewhere and shutting down the facility won't have a neg- ative impact on the vil- lage or its landfill site. The village will con- tinue to accept green mai- household waste at the composter with John Baker and Pepper win- drowing the material this year. Hopefully, a change in the province's phi- losophy on waste man- agement and better tech- nology will breath new life into the compost fa- cility. ' _w c.CAstii i Ca fi Rg,,,i,;,s.,w 61n 0l...« Kia 7ackate Kwpm wowWWII MOW • 2f The seven-year-old Hensall Compost Facility was closed for the winter and will not re -open this spring be- cause, `the Hensall elevators can take their waste to landfill sites cheaper than operating the composter. 'eves hit Hensall Co-op NSALL — The Hensall Co-op warehouse on Oxford St. in Hensall was broken into April 22. London OPP Const. Doug Graham said thieves entered through the southeast roll -up door. A compres- sor and a generator were taken. Tools and CDs stolen LUCAN — Thieves smashed a rear window to gain entry to a Richmond St. S. shop beside a residence south of l.ucan April 15. London OPP Const. Myra Rusk said tools and a CD player were stolen. Mouthful 'o fish Hensall's Eric Falconer opens wide for a healthy mouthful of fish at the Kirkton-Woodham Op- timists Fish Fry at the Kirkton-Woodham Com- munity Centre Sunday afternoon. Over 1,000 at- tend the annual fundraising event. 1 Inner city walk in Toronto planned for students By Philip J. McMillan The Coffee House,last Friday evening. was a great event with another sellout crowd. The response was great and so was the show. This week some of our students will join the stu- dents from St. Michael Catholic Secondary School to go on an inner city walk in Toronto. Students will witness the poverty of those in the inner city and return with plans to help those less fortunate than themselves. We are very fortunate to live in an area where the troubles of the inner city do not affect us daily. We are all called to help those less fortunate than ourselves and these students wil, I am sure. return more aware of their brothers and sisters in the streets of Toronto. The, myth is that all those people come from the city. The reality is that many in the streets are kids who ran away from communi- ties not unlike our own. The students will go to shylters and meet with those who make it their mission to help the poor and hungry, the lost and helpless. Now I will discuss the .Secondary School Reform concept of Literacy "Testing. All students will, in their grade ten year, be required to try a test relat- ed to a standard of litera- cy. Students will be tested to see if the' have attained a level of literacy that is considered acceptable for the grade nine student. Students with special needs will be allowed to have the same accommo- dations provided for them as -set out in their Individual Fducation Plan. Every student must have a fair and equal opportu- nity to complete the test. The test itself. however, will not have altered con- tent. Students may defer the test if enrolled in a lit- eracy or English as a Second Language pro- gram. Students who, according to their IEP, are not working toward gain- ing a secondary diploma will be exempted from the test. We at St. Anne's will be piloting the tes' this May. It will be helpful to uS to get an advanced look at the format. Three classes will be involved in this pilot. I close the article with a simple prayer for all that are involved in the Columbine High School shooting in Denver They're musical Colorado. We must give pause and reflect on what conditions in any culture - can produce such horror. -It is my hope that we will not sit. back as a commu- nity and think it is part of a -world removed. We must open our minds and hearts, ears and hands, to listen and to learn, work and pray to prevent such tragedy. South Huron District High School musicians Jenni DeBlock, left, Dave Rob- ertson and Shannon VanRompaey were among the band members that pro- vided three hours of musical delight to a packed house during. the Cabaret performances at the school on Saturday night. The school's Senior Jazz Band, Intermediate Jazz Band, Senior Concert Band, the Senior, Junior and Triple Trios and the school's choirs performed classics like In The Mood, Caravan and Jump Jive and Wail. The school's musicians have worked on the material all year long. The event was a fund-raiser for the bus trip and accommodations for the national school music competition in Toronto May I 8-2 I .