Whitesand Cogeneration Plant

Neegan Burnside Ltd. (Neegan Burnside) was retained to complete an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA) in conjunction with the construction of a biomass fuel electrical power and heat cogeneration plant, as well as a solid wood fuel pellet plant for Whitesand First Nation in Armstrong, Ontario.

Because of the remote location of the planned facility, much of the work was completed using aerial and ground photos and drawings. Since the cogeneration unit will be wood-fired, there are 130 different contaminants expected to be exhausted from that source alone.

Contaminants such as dioxins and furans require particular attention because they must be assessed as individual contaminants and also as a group. As well, some of the contaminants also have multiple averaging periods over which they must be assessed.

When the assessment was complete, the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks issued a Renewable Energy Approval for the cogeneration plant and an Environmental Compliance Approval for the pellet mill facility.