Purpose:

To update the action plan for odour abatement at the Harbour Remediation & Transfer Inc. facility, relating to the biosolids reuse demonstration project for mine tailings rehabilitation, and to seek authorization to provide funding to Terratec Environmental Ltd. for the expansion of its existing facility to allow for additional winter storage of biosolids from Metro for the beneficial reuse of the biosolids by direct application to farmland.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

The increase of funds in the contract with Terratec Environmental Ltd. can be accommodated within the approved 1997 Operating Budget, Appropriation WP 210 Treatment, Repair and Replacement Account.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that authority be granted to amend the Agreement dated July 30, 1996, with Terratec Environmental Ltd. to provide funds up to $75,500.00, plus any applicable taxes, to Terratec Environmental Ltd. to expand its existing storage facility in order to accommodate extra quantities of biosolids during winter months for the biosolids reuse demonstration project, on terms and conditions satisfactory to the Commissioner of Works and in a form acceptable to the Metropolitan Solicitor.

Council Reference/Background/History:

Harbour Remediation & Transfer Inc. (HR&T) was contracted to carry out a five-year demonstration project for the beneficial reuse of biosolids from the Main Treatment Plant as an alternative to incineration. This project involves further treatment of the biosolids at the HR&T site at 97 Commissioners Street in the Toronto east portland area. In dealing with the odour issue related to the HR&T operations, Metropolitan Council, at its meeting of September 24 and 25, 1997, adopted, as amended, recommendations embodied in Clause No. 1 of Report No. 12 of The Environment and Public Space Committee, requesting the Commissioner of Works to submit a report to the Environment and Public Space Committee for its meeting on November 26, 1997, on an update respecting the HR&T project.

Pursuant to Council authorization at its meeting of September 24 and 25, 1997, Metro Legal has forwarded to HR&T an amending agreement to provide funds to HR&T for the necessary odour abatement upgrade at the HR&T site, and to allow for the supply of 50,000 dry tonnes of biosolids, in total, to HR&T over the term. The amending agreement has not yet been executed by HR&T and returned to Metro.

Metro Works staff met and reached a mutual agreement with HR&T that ORTECH Corporation, experts in odour control, be engaged by HR&T to develop and propose a plan of action for the identification and implementation of an effective solution to the odour problems related to the HR&T operations. ORTECH's expertise in the field of odour emission control related to large industrial operations is internationally recognized.

The approach of the action plan proposed by ORTECH differs somewhat from that of the original action plan proposed from HR&T as outlined in Clause No. 1 of Report No. 12 of The Environment and Public Space Committee, which was before Council at its meeting on September 24 and 25, 1997. The original action plan from HR&T submitted to Metro Works on September 17, 1997, consisted of chemical characterization of odorous substances that could be emitted from the biosolids and bench scale testing of the proposed odour control process. Both were proposed to be carried out in the laboratory, as well as pilot scale testing of an odour scrubber during normal operation at the HR&T facility, followed by design and full scale installation of the scrubbing equipment. The pilot testing of the scrubber would be conducted using different chemical solutions on a portion of the air emissions to be diverted from the existing emission control system during normal biosolids processing operations.

It was ORTECH's considered opinion that the laboratory chemical characterization and bench scale testing would not be an appropriate cost-effective approach in trying to resolve the odour problems associated with the HR&T facility; also, it would have to be followed by extensive pilot testing, which would require HR&T to continue operation for an extensive time period in order to obtain the necessary information and data for full scale equipment design.

ORTECH proposed the following three-stage program:

Considering the earlier timeframe to characterize the odours and have a recommended solution based on limited full-scale operation, the emission characterization study was estimated to be completed in a two-week period, and completion of the engineering assessment of odour abatement technologies in four weeks. ORTECH has estimated that a six-month period would be required for the custom design and full-scale installation of the selected odour abatement equipment. The timeframe for the completion of the three-stage program would be about eight months.

The proposed plan of action by ORTECH was reviewed and accepted by HR&T, Metro Works staff and the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE). ORTECH was then retained by HR&T to carry out the emission characterization study as proposed at a total estimated cost of $32,000.00 plus any applicable taxes. Metro will reimburse HR&T for the cost of the study.

On October 17, 1997, the MOEE issued a temporary Notice of Amendment to HR&T's Certificate of Approval - Air, No. 8-3654-95-979 (C of A) to allow the HR&T facility to operate for a 30-day period in order to carry out the short-term characterization study. The 30-day period takes effect on commencement of operation of the HR&T facility. A letter under the same date from the MOEE Approvals Branch was sent, care of Metro Works, to members and interested persons of the Community Biosolids Monitoring Committee, advising of the issuance of the Notice of Amendment to the C of A.

The schedule drawn up by ORTECH for the sampling and measurements of the odour emissions for the emission characterization study was forwarded to the MOEE. Under a cover letter dated October 27, 1997, Metro Works also sent a copy of the schedule, for information, to Councillors Peter Tabuns and Jack Layton, Councillors respectively for the City of Toronto and Metro representing the ward in which HR&T is located.

On Friday, October 24, 1997, Metro Works started to supply HR&T with biosolids, as requested by HR&T, to allow ORTECH to carry out the necessary emission sampling which had been scheduled for completion on November 3, 1997. For the period from October 24 to 30, 1997, HR&T operated on a total of six days. For the first three days, HR&T operated at nighttime hours from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 a.m., in accordance with an amendment to HR&T's C of A (site), which temporarily allowed HR&T to change their operating times from the normal day to nighttime hours. This amendment expired on October 27, 1997, therefore, HR&T reverted to the normal daytime hours between 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on October 28, 1997. On October 30, 1997, Metro Works received an odour complaint from the business community in the surrounding area. As a result, HR&T halted their operation which was rescheduled, with MOEE approval, to nighttime hours on November 12, 1997, in order to minimize the odour impact on the community while allowing ORTECH to collect their last set of samples necessary for the completion of the characterization study. The November 12, 1997 schedule was later postponed to November 19, 1997, to allow for further discussion of the program with Councillor Layton, when HR&T operated 12 hours only from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. the following morning, which enabled ORTECH to complete the emission sampling. ORTECH's preliminary report on the odour characterization will be available on November 26, 1997, for the meeting of the Environment and Public Space Committee. All members of the Biosolids Monitoring Committee and interested parties in the community were notified of the final testing process, as per the attached flyer on November 18, 1997.

At a meeting on November 13, 1997, we received a verbal estimate from ORTECH on the cost and amount of time required to install the necessary odour control equipment at the HR&T facility. The estimate was between $1,500,000.00 and $2,000,000.00, with 30 weeks to design and install the odour control equipment to meet MOEE requirements. It is important to note that this estimate is only for the design and installation of the necessary equipment, and does not include any mark-up or administration cost for HR&T.

Given the divergence between the existing Council authority of September 24 and 25, 1997, and the estimate from ORTECH, we will need to discuss options with HR&T and recommend a proposed course of action in conjunction with the Metropolitan Solicitor, and report to Council on December 10, 1997.

Another biosolids reuse demonstration project is being carried out by Terratec Environmental Ltd. (Terratec). Under a five-year contract with Metro, Terratec is required to remove and beneficially utilize 50,000 dry tonnes of biosolids on agricultural land. Council at the meeting of September 24 and 25, 1997, by adoption of Clause No. 1, as amended, of Report No. 12 of The Environment and Public Space Committee, approved the recommendations embodied in the report dated September 3, 1997, from the Commissioner of Works, thereby authorizing that the Agreement with Terratec be amended to allow Terratec, when needed by Metro, to remove and handle quantities of biosolids in excess of the original contractual requirements for an additional cost of $39.00 per dry tonne. This cost is to cover the expenses of Terratec for temporary acquisition of additional trucks and biosolids application equipment as and when required.

The odour abatement program presently underway to upgrade the HR&T facility is expected to continue possibly for a period of more than four months through the winter season, during which time HR&T would not be processing biosolids from the Main Treatment Plant. In this light, we approached and discussed with Terratec the possibility of removing and applying to farmland quantities of biosolids, in total, up to twice the original estimated requirements through the coming winter months. This would avoid starting up and operating another incinerator at the Main Treatment Plant, thereby reducing the amounts of biosolids incineration.

We were advised by Terratec that since biosolids can only be applied to farmland in the spring and fall, the existing biosolids storage lagoon, which had been constructed based on the original quantities, will need to be enlarged in order to accommodate the extra quantities of biosolids during the winter months; the work to enlarge the storage lagoon can be completed before the end of December, 1997.

The total estimated costs for the enlargement of the storage lagoon amount to $75,500.00, plus applicable taxes. This amount is equivalent to an extra $1.51 per dry tonne of biosolids over the contract price of $85.00 per dry tonne, calculated based on the removal and beneficial land use of the originally contracted quantities of 50,000 dry tonnes of biosolids over the five-year term of the demonstration project. We recommend that funds up to $75,500.00, plus applicable taxes, be provided to Terratec to upgrade its existing biosolids storage facility to accommodate extra quantities of biosolids, in order to minimize biosolids incineration during the period when HR&T is not operating. These funds would be provided after Terratec has signed an amending agreement on terms satisfactory to the Commissioner of Works and in a form satisfactory to the Metropolitan Solicitor.

Conclusions:

At its meeting of September 24 and 25, 1997, Council adopted Clause No. 1, as amended, of Report No. 12 of The Environment and Public Space Committee, thereby authorizing that the agreement with HR&T be amended to allow for the supply of 50,000 dry tonnes in total to HR&T for the biosolids reuse demonstration project, and to provide funds up to $600,000.00 to HR&T for identification and implementation of the necessary odour abatement upgrade at the HR&T facility. As mutually agreed, HR&T has retained ORTECH to undertake an emission characterization study, as an initial step in selecting an effective odour abatement technology to be implemented at the HR&T facility. As the estimated cost of remedial action exceeds existing Council authority, further discussions are underway with HR&T, and we will report further to the December 10, 1997 meeting of Council.

Under a five-year contract with Metro, Terratec is carrying out another demonstration project to apply the biosolids to farmland. Metro Works staff has requested Terratec to handle extra quantities of biosolids that HR&T is supposed to remove and process during the coming winter months, when the upgrade work at the HR&T facility is expected to take place. In order to accommodate the extra biosolids through the winter months, the existing storage facility of Terratec needs to be enlarged. The estimated costs for the enlargement of the storage facility amount to $75,500.00 plus applicable taxes. We recommend that funds up to $75,500.00, plus applicable taxes, be provided to Terratec to upgrade its storage facility to handle extra quantities of biosolids over the original contractual requirements, in order to reduce biosolids incineration at the Main Treatment Plant.

Summary Chart:

This report conforms with the following:

Contact Name and Telephone Number:

Mr. R. M. Pickett, Director, Water Pollution Control, (416) 392-8230.

The Environment and Public Space Committee reports, for the information of Council, having also had before it during consideration of the foregoing matter the following:

Ms. Karey Shinn, Co-Chair, Public Committee for Safe Sewage Treatment in Metropolitan Toronto, appeared before the Environment and Public Space Committee in connection with the foregoing matter, and filed a submission with respect thereto.

(A copy of each of the attachments referred to in the foregoing report has been forwarded to all Members of Council, and a copy thereof is on file in the office of the Metropolitan Clerk.)