space Press Releases, News Stories

by Charlie Angus, Highgrader Magazine

Less than two years after opening a Canadian branch plant, Trans Cycle Industries (TCI) of Penn City, Alabama, is threatening to pack up its toys and move home. The company is angry because it is the first waste management venture to be turned down by Ontario's "open for business" Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE).

In July 1999, TCI applied for what it called a "minor amendment" to its recently opened plant in Kirkland Lake, Ontario. That amendment would have opened the Canadian border to the international importation of PCB-contaminated metals.

On Christmas Eve, the Ministry ix-nayed the plan. TCI says it's "astonished" at the ruling. Environmental advocates are also astonished. They point out that until this ruling, Ministry rejection rates have been running at "basically zero".

TCI isn't taking the rejection lightly. Calling the move a "political knee jerk reaction," they are threatening to leave the country if they don't get their way. If they do leave, Canadian taxpayers might just have to kiss goodbye the recent $1.25 million "contribution" made to entice the company to set up in Canada in the first place.

The 130,000 kilos of toxic goodies from U.S. military bases in Guam, South Korea and Japan may just be the beginning

The money was granted to TCI through the federal government's Canada Jobs Fund (formerly known as the Transitional Jobs Fund), which was blasted last week by the auditor general for its lack of financial controls and vulnerability to political manipulation.

Suzanne Dupont, a spokesperson for Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) in Timmins, says she is unaware of any action the federal government could take to reclaim its "contribution" if the company pulled up stakes.

"If the company moved out of the area, I'm not aware of what we could do," the official told Straight Goods. "Personally, I don't see how HRDC can run after a sponsor."

When TCI president David Laskin first appeared in Kirkland Lake in late 1997, things were looking good for the company. They had plants operating in Alabama and New York State. As well, they had secured a major contract with the U.S. Overseas Service (which handles the affairs of military bases) to handle PCB-contaminated waste from American bases in Japan. The 130,000 kilos of toxic goodies could signal the start of a very lucrative business dealing with U.S. military waste from bases in Guam, South Korea, and the Philippines. And why stop there? The company could also start bidding on waste from other OECD countries and nations that had signed the Basel Convention (which governs international shipments of toxic waste).

The only problem was the fact that the United States border was firmly closed to the importation of PCB-contaminated metals. But Laskin wasn't talking about his international problems when he came to Kirkland Lake. Instead, he waxed on about the economic potential of recycling PCB -contaminated transformers from regional mining, hydro, and pulp operations.

Laskin stated that Kirkland Lake was "a central location" for dealing with customers "in the mining and pulp and paper industries". If local people were receptive, TCI promised to build a plant and hire 68 local people. In a region beset by chronic, high unemployment, such words were like manna from heaven. The mining industry - which provides the town's economic base - was hitting the skids.

"We were dying for any new business at all," says one local businessman, "They [TCI] came in and were very sophisticated. We went down and saw their operation in Alabama. We were impressed by their pitch. But I don't remember any talk about the plant taking waste from elsewhere. I was under the impression it was going to serve regional needs." The Feds, eager to get the project off the ground in a Liberal riding, threw in a $1.25 million "contribution". A local investment fund kicked in another $500,000.

In May 1998, the TCI plant was licensed by the Ontario Ministry of Environment. No mention was made of potential overseas business. TCI asked for and received a license to deal with metals from within Canada.

Minor Amendment

After only a year in operation, TCI was singing the Kirkland Lake blues. Business wasn't good and layoffs were looming. Then the news surfaced that TCI had secured contracts from Japan. What would keep the Kirkland plant viable was a "minor amendment" from the Ministry of Environment. You know, scratch out the part that says "licensed for Canada" and scribble in the words "receive PCB waste from other OECD and Basel Convention countries".

TCI's lawyer, Michael Zarin, says the amendment is no big deal. "It's not as if there's going to be any new environmental impact from amending our application. The environment isn't going to know whether you are treating PCBs from Ontario or Mexico."

Brennain Lloyd of the environmental group Northwatch thinks otherwise. "It's a very loaded thing to say we are going to start taking PCBs from around the world." Pointing out that this "minor amendment" would open the Canadian border to the importation of PCB-contaminated metals, Northwatch joined with a number of province-wide environmental organizations in fighting the proposal. TCI's request came as the MOEE was coming under serious heat for its apparent "open door" policy on waste importing. The Canadian Institute of Environmental Law and Policy had just released a damning report showing that, since 1993, the importation of toxic waste had quadrupled from 85,000 tonnes to 230,000 tonnes.

Said Mark Winfield, a researcher with the Canadian Environmental Law Assocation (CELA): "The signal from the province is that anything will be approved. Ontario has become a very attractive place to dispose of waste cheaply. We are definitely becoming a continental dumping ground."

On Christmas Eve, Winfield and other advocates were surprised by the news that the MOEE had decided to turn down TCI's plan. The ruling noted that the importation plan "may result in a hazard to the health or safety of the public" and was therefore "not in the public interest".

Brennain Lloyd believes that one of the reason's for the rejection may have been the fact that TCI's attitude might have "ticked off" people within the Ministry. "If they intended on taking this waste from Japan and Mexico they should have said so from the beginning. TCI has been very high-handed. They presume to lecture us as how, as global citizens, we should be welcoming PCBs into Northern Ontario."

Zarin, however, believes that TCI is being made a fall guy for the MOEE's bad press. "I think the Ministry took a hit publicly and became gun shy....this decision is totally at odds with what I understand to be this government's pro-business mentality."

Certainly, public pressure from groups like Northwatch, CELA, and the Citizen's Network on Waste Management, pushed the MOEE to finally take a stand. But TCI isn't taking the rejection lightly. Perhaps mistaking the pine trees of the province for banana plantations, they are claiming that the decision "exceeds the authority of the Ministry of the Environment of Ontario".

Temiskaming MPP David Ramsay (Liberal) has said he will approach the provincial cabinet for a change in MOEE policy, if the appeal goes against TCI.

Speaking from his office in Westchester, New York, Zarin calls the rejection a "slap in the face" to the residents of Northern Ontario. "We came into Kirkland Lake hoping to put Kirkland Lake on the international map...and the government's decision based on a two sentence (decision) -- not in the public interest -- will put this plant in risk of closing."

Brennain Lloyd, however, believes that the real slap in the face may be the fact that Canadian taxpayers gave away $1.25 million with the understanding that the plant was going to address regional needs. If the plant closes, TCI would have no obligation to pay the money back. "This really raises the question about accountability in spending public money," she says.

No date for a decision on the appeal has been announced.

Charlie Angus is the editor of HighGrader Magazine in Cobalt, Ontario. His latest book is the photo-collaboration, Industrial Cathedrals of the North. He is the lead singer with the Canadian folk band Grievous Angels.