"Power plant's new owners should burn trash for energy"

 My previous post, as I have updated, had been published in the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal. At that time I was unaware that the Ontario Power Generation thermal plant on Mission Island in Thunder Bay had recently been sold to a firm that specialises in demolition and salvage. I then wrote another piece which I also submitted to the Chronicle Journal which they then published in the May 7th edition. At that time I also sent in a related piece that only time will tell will get published too.

Here are the two, as I had sent them in with what was edited out of the former in bold.

 

Recently I wrote a piece advancing the idea of industrial incinerators. At that time, I was unaware that the Ontario Power Generation facility on Mission Island had just been sold to a company that specialises in demolition. At heart I am an optimist and as such look at that event as having a silver lining that I wish to share. Before I continue, I want to tell you that this is a two-part series with optimism being at the core of both.

I do acknowledge that Thunder Bay has, in my lifetime, never been a paragon of optimism. I lived in the city from 1980 to 1991 and 30 years later I visit and see little change; it remains in the doldrums all because of a general lack of willingness to embrace optimistic views and instead falls into the trap of the pessimists who promote boogie men behind every tree and under every rock. At the forefront are environmentalists, a group I do not like because of their propensity to be pessimistic for irrational reasons. Take for example the movie released back in 2006, “An inconvenient Truth”. None of the predictions, after 15 years have come true. None. To the point it should be relabelled “Convenient Lies”.

The company that purchased the generating station have just bought a facility that in general terms is already an incinerator. It burns solid fuel to generate steam which then feed electrical generators. Sure, it is not optimal in that the flue gases are not treated by state-of -the art technologies, but that can easily be changed. A proper threshold to measure anything like this to is what is currently acceptable. At worst, any such plant should not generate any more air pollution that the Resolute paper mill, yet we all know we can do far better, so why not do it? For a fraction of the cost of building a purpose-built facility the new owners can convert this one such that it can be a beacon for the rest of Canada how to truly follow the Four-R mantra of Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

The city of Thunder Bay would then have a means to save themselves a lot of money with the benefit of being able to buy relatively cheap power and reducing the pressure on the tax paying residents of the city. Rather than trucking solid waste to the John Street land fill garbage trucks would travel a shorter distance to Mission Island. The new owners of the complex, by not having the huge capital costs associated with the construction of a plant from scratch, would be able to sell, at a profit, electricity to Thunder Bay Hydro at a cost very competitive to the best rate Hydro One is able to offer. And this is just a start of the many positive upsides that can be experienced!

Thunder Bay and the new owners of the plant are at a juncture of two roads. The one to the left is the one the pessimists would encourage. Ironically, they call them selves “progressives” but in fact they promote the opposite. The branch to the right holds so much promise including enhancing local job opportunities, reduced costs for the city and a better environment! Now, that is what I would call “progressive”, where the future is better than the present. Which path do you want to take? Do you not think it is about time Thunder Bay started embracing optimism based on solid ideas with positives being at the fore front? The choice is yours.

 

Part 2 - Thunder Bay Needs More Optimism (as yet unpublished)

Previously I wrote about how Thunder Bay should take an optimistic look at the old thermal generating station on Mission Island and assist in converting it to an industrial incinerator. But historically Thunder Bay has not been a paragon of optimism. One glaring example is the fact that the Fort William Gardens is still in use. This dinosaur should have died by now but the pessimists in Thunder Bay will not let it by keeping it on life-support when the plug should have been pulled long ago.

Thunder Bay is at the core of a huge area covering much of Northwestern Ontario. By geographic terms alone it should be a thriving hub of activity. But it is not, due to a culture of pessimistic minds who, while a minority, carry the day.

Compare the city to its sister about 300 kilometres to the south-west, Duluth. It is of similar size, but the differences are striking. It has allowed the development of magnet businesses such as Menards and Costco as just a couple of examples. Its waterfront is amazing with the parks, the small shops, and the overall attractiveness. Even the drive down from Thunder Bay, once you cross the border is amazing in the differences. Any potential attraction is enhanced yet never at the expense of the environment, especially the Boundary Waters tourist region. On top of that the whole region, pre-Covid, advertised heavily in our area to attract us to this magnetic area.

Let us now look at Thunder Bay and the outlying region. The contrasts are stark. Beginning at the waterfront beauty is sparse. The city offers little for anyone to come and visit. A jewel should be the Community Auditorium, but it rarely makes any attempt to attract people from outlying communities who do not want to cross the border. There are so many untapped synergies with local business that could be tapped like the local accommodation industry but are not. The general lack of magnetism is palpable.

Why is this? Because Thunder Bay has allowed itself to be ruled by the pessimists. All one needs to do is look at city council, both past and present. While there have been, and are, a few optimists, the pessimists prevail. One reason is just the general demeanour of the city residents. So many are comfortable in the small town feel of the city. Yet remain puzzled why so many of their children move away. Of course, it is complicated by having a provincial government, that even when the name of the party changes, the repressive rules and regulations remain, or the screws are tightened even further.

The real irony is that Thunder Bay could easily retain that small town feel yet be open minded. To start, stop giving undue weight to the pessimistic view, especially the anti-everything views of the environmental lobby. Focus more on reality and far less on the imaginary faults that so many promote with little, if any, evidence that they even exist. A body to survive needs a beating heart. The stronger the heart beats the stronger the body becomes. Thunder Bay is the heart of Northwestern Ontario and it must come out of its stupor soon or it will be too late. And it all begins by just taking on the right attitude; optimism driven by rationalism.