in Bid for New Energy-from-Waste Facility

Gold River, BC - July 27, 2010 – Residents of the Vancouver Island community of Gold River have put their overwhelming support for a proposed energy-from-waste facility into a new video that has been posted on YouTube. The video, along with a Letter of Support signed by 318 residents over a three-day period last week, requests that the Board of Metro Vancouver and B.C.’s Minister of Environment, Barry Penner, allow Covanta Energy and Green Island Energy to put forward a proposal for an energy-from-waste plant in Gold River, to take waste from Metro Vancouver and other B.C. communities.

Watch the Video

The proposed project would be built on the site of a former pulp mill, which closed 11 years ago and resulted in the loss of over 400 jobs.  The Village of Gold River, which has supported the construction of a waste-to-energy facility since it was first proposed in 2005, took the step of creating a video to show Metro Vancouver leaders, Minister Penner and all British Columbians that the community sees the project as a sustainable and economically viable solution to the province’s solid waste challenges.

“Gold River is a progressive community. With this project we have the opportunity to be a leader in renewable energy and to help create a more sustainable way to deal with unrecyclable waste in our province,” said Mayor Craig Anderson. “The energy-from-waste facility will not only position Gold River as a frontrunner in the creation of clean and renewable energy, it will also bring much needed investment and jobs back to our community.”
Mayor Anderson and Chief Mike Maquinna of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation have requested a meeting with Minister of Environment Barry Penner in order to personally deliver the signed Letter of Support and video on behalf of the Gold River community.

The Letter of Support reads:
We, the undersigned members of the Gold River community, wish to express our support for the Gold River Power Project, a modern Energy-from-Waste facility, as an option for Metro Vancouver’s Solid Waste. We continue to endorse the Gold River Power Project as an opportunity to bring green jobs to our community, to generate clean and renewable electricity, and to provide a sustainable waste management solution for British Columbia.
“After making the letter available for just a few days, in the summertime when many of our residents are out of town, we still got a tremendous response – over 300 signatures,” Mayor Anderson said. “This shows how much our community values the potential benefits of this project. We are hopeful that our video will demonstrate to Metro Vancouver and the provincial government that Gold River is the right location for this state-of-the-art facility. We have a site here with environmental approvals in place, an operator with experience building these facilities around the world, and a community that is ready to welcome the project.”

About the Gold River Power Project
Covanta Energy Corporation and Green Island Energy have proposed to build the Gold River Power Project, a state-of-the-art Energy-from-Waste facility that would convert post-recycled municipal solid waste from Metro Vancouver and other communities in B.C. into 100 megawatts of clean, renewable energy annually. The Gold River Power Project would provide for a more environmentally responsible means of solid waste disposal than landfilling waste and enjoy economies of scale that would provide the Province with cost-effective and sustainable disposal capacity. The Gold River project has the support of the Village of Gold River, Strathcona Regional District, the Council of Chiefs of the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nations and the Coalition of BC Building Trade Unions. More information about the project can be obtained at www.covantaholding.com/goldriverpower.   

Contact:
Mayor Craig Anderson
250-283-2202