First eco-district flop: the 'Couv
The angry neighbors of a proposed lumber mill waste incinerator biomass energy plant in downtown Vancouver, Washington have managed to kill the project. Yay, angry neighbors! Stick up for the air you breathe, and don't let the money-grubbers "greenwash" their way into your back yard:
The county maintained that pollution and other factors would be minimal, and that the plant represents a sustainable way to heat and cool county buildings at no additional cost to taxpayers.The biomass plant (fueled by tree tops, limbs and the detritus of producing lumber) would replace 11 boilers.
This project was the protoype of what the planning pushers call an "eco-district." Your garbage is going to be burned right where you live, for electricity. Portland City Hall is all over it. Maybe your neighborhood will be the lucky first one. To borrow a line from Eileen Brady, you'll love it!
| Posted at 12:31 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (5)
I don't know if it's so much the angry neighbors as the fact that there's a long standing rivalry between City and County on this side of the river. In this case, the County was wanting to site this near the heart of the City. The Columbian tends to side with the City also, so... there was a lot visual politics against this proposal.
Posted by Brian | November 23, 2011 1:06 PM
"It makes its own sauce!" - F.Z.
Posted by Mojo | November 23, 2011 1:40 PM
5pm and 'just back from planting trees at my 30+ acre tree farm in Washington County. (Yes, it's cold, wet and muddy but the trees must be planted in the winter.)I don't know about where biomass burning facilities should be located but I do know that I'm local, not a Canadian, Mexican or Venezuelan business selling oil and gas to keep the 'Couv warm. In 5 or 10 years (about 30 years after planting) I hope sell trees for lumber, paper and yes, biomass to keep us warm. Just hoping...
Posted by Don | November 23, 2011 5:54 PM
Looks like the 9-cent discrepancy per/kw was the larger issue. I can't see why you couldn't burn that stuff in a city's light industrial area and have it be as clean as many other factories. Burning is burning, you just have to clean the emissions. We better figure out ways to generate electricity from all the biomass that just ends up in slash burns in the forests. Just a waste at the moment, and that smoke goes somewhere, untreated.
Posted by Huck | November 24, 2011 10:54 AM
Maybe the 2400 hundred citizens of SoWhat will be like the Couv. They had better speak up soon about the proposed Biomass Eco-District a few blocks from their highrise condos. Call PDC and ask about their hidden agenda. They claim they are "just studying it". We know what that means.
Posted by lw | November 25, 2011 8:30 PM