Clean Harbors rejects lawsuit claims

The Clean Harbors hazardous waste facility St. Clair Township operates a landfill and incinerator. CATHY DOBSON/THE OBSERVER/QMI AGENCY ST. CLAIR TOWNSHIP - As the deadline looms for Clean Harbors to clean up millions of litres of odorous leachate at its hazardous waste site, the company denies causing neighbour Jim Stenton any health problems. A statement of defence filed in answer to a $25,000 lawsuit from Stenton states that Clean Harbors Canada “acknowledges that odour issues have arisen at the Corunna facility. “But testing performed by the government would indicate that the odour issues did not present a health issue,” says the statement filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Stenton, 64, lives within a few kilometres of Clean Harbors’ Telfer Road site. He says that a “putrid” stench from the site woke him numerous times in July 2011 and caused him to leave his home. His claim describes various health impacts including shortness of breath, headaches, watery eyes, nausea and swelling. On two occasions, the claim states, 9-1-1 was called when Stenton experienced high blood pressure, nausea, and a headache. Both parties say they are awaiting a date with a judge for a settlement conference. However, Stenton said Tuesday he wants to go to trial. “Unless they come up with an unconditional full settlement, I’m ready to risk court costs and whatever it takes,” he said. “I’ve been fighting this thing off and on for 40 years and they need to clean up their act.” The Environment Ministry ordered Clean Harbors to remove more than 20 million litres of smelly leachate from its property by Thursday. “The ministry inspected our facility two weeks ago and we received confirmation that we met all the terms and conditions of their orders ahead of the May 31 deadline,” said Phillip Retallick, senior VP of regulatory affairs for Clean Harbors. The company spent more than $1 million to incinerate or remove the leachate. About half was destroyed in the on-site incinerator and some was shipped to an U.S.-based commercial hazardous waste injection well. The rest was captured in two new leachate ponds that have been covered with impervious roofing. “Right now the working face of the landfill, which had the accumulated leachate, is dry,” Retallick said Tuesday. “We believe these changes we’ve made will mitigate if not eliminate odours.” Clean Harbors will be “vigilant” in the future to ensure its hazardous waste doesn’t impact the surrounding community,” Retallick added. “We will not let our guard down.” The storm water management system at the landfill has been improved to ensure processed water and non-processed water doesn’t mix, he said. The intense odours, which neighbours complained about for about six months, were likely caused by a lot of rainfall over the past three years and a buildup of leachate, Retallick said. “We were not able to do as good a job controlling the amount of runoff as we should have.” The MoE’s Kate Jordan confirmed Clean Harbors has complied with the ministry order to reduce and control odour. The order remains in effect and the company is required to continue to report on its incineration schedule, she said. Despite hot temperatures in May there were no odour complaints related to Clean Harbors from neighbours, Jordan added. “It looks like they’ve done everything the ministry ordered,” agreed Lori Vokes, spokesperson for several dozen residents who live near the site. “The neighbours have been telling me there’s been a big improvements in leachate odours there. We’re cautiously optimistic the problem is finally under control,” Vokes said. “When I look back on it, the million dollar question is why did Clean Harbors and the ministry allow these massive amounts of leachate to accumulate. “It’s like watching a toxic time bomb and not doing anything about it, just waiting until it goes off to do something.”

Expansion options stink in Chemainus

The Cowichan Valley Regional District is giving to the company operating a composting facility in Chemainus conditional approval to expand. Coast Environmental Ltd. must choose one of two options if they want to move from accepting strictly sludge, including sewage, brewery and dairy, to also accepting food, fish and garden waste. Bob McDonald with the CVRD said the first option is to place a six-month moratorium on expanding and then a six-month phasing in of the new system, with the district closely monitoring and measuring the expansion. But McDonald said the second option, to enclose the entire facility inside a single building, is their preference. “The hope is that they’ll take that option and this will be the end of concern in the community and odours will be a thing of the past and most people won’t even know they’re operating there.” Last fall, dozens of residents, including local businessperson Cam Drew, protested the foul smell emanating from the site. Drew told SunFM News that he doesn't understand why coast Environmental is looking to make their operations even bigger. “When you’ve been hit with that odour, it offends you so deeply, that it’s just difficult to comprehend how an operator—the problems they’ve had in the past—is given the opportunity to handle even more tonnage, more product.” Under municipal and provincial bylaws, the CVRD is legally required to let the facility expand if it doesn't impact the people and the surroundings. Drew agrees with the CVRD’s position that Coast Environmental should choose the option of enclosing the entire composting facility. The CVRD, in conjunction with North Cowichan, is responsible only for regulating the composting part of the operation, while the sewage transfer section is unregulated.

Residents welcome moves to cut odour

News that the awful smell from a Dubai sewage plant could be virtually eradicated has been welcomed by people who own property nearby - some of whom said the smell is so bad they moved out. News that the awful smell from a Dubai sewage plant could be virtually eradicated has been welcomed by people who own property nearby - some of whom said the smell is so bad they moved out. A number of people who own homes in the Persia and Morocco clusters of International City, as well as in nearby Al Warqa, told 7DAYS they have chosen to rent out their homes rather than live in them because of the pong. ​ The plant’s smell has driven some people away from the area, residents claim “When I took up my home in Morocco two years ago the stench was awful, especially at night due to the strong winds. I couldn’t even use the balcony,” said Abdul Kadir Rafeeq, a lecturer in Dubai who bought his one-bedroom flat for Dhs300,000. “Besides the inconvenience, I worried for the health of my two daughters.” Dubai Municipality said on Tuesday it hopes to reduce odour emissions from Al Aweer Sewage Treatment Plant by up to 98 per cent using new treatment processes. It admitted it had received complaints about the problem. Iranian businessman Behram Khoadad is another homeowner who says he was driven away, this time from the Persia cluster. And, he said even those he rented his apartment to could not bear it and moved out after about two months. But, the homeowners said they are looking forward to moving back once the pong is gone. Mohammed Abdulaziz Najm, director of sewage treatment at the municipality, said studies had been conducted over a number of years to come up with the best solution. “With more developments approaching the plant, the health of people and safety of the environment have become a major priority,” he said, adding a special task force was formed about six months ago to deal with the problem. “Through this task force and our improved methods, we have so far attained a 98 per cent reduction in the smell and we have seen a remarkable decline in complaints,” said Rashid Karkain, head of the Al Aweer operation section. However, some tenants at International City said yesterday they could still smell the plant.

Anotec OEM

While many consumers may not be familiar with what an OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturer product is, they are becoming more and more common. This is particularly true due to the rise in online shopping. This brief article takes a look at what these OEM products are, their differences with retail products and try to answer if they are things consumers should or should not buy. What it Means to be an OEM Product To put an OEM product in the simplest terms, it is a product from a manufacturer that is sold without the retail packaging to system integrators and retailers for purchase in or with a completed computer system. Often they are sold in larger lots or groups to help reduce the costs to the company using the parts for integration. What the OEM product will come with will vary depending upon the type of product being sold. So, how does the product vary? Typically the component that is purchased as an OEM product lacks all retail packaging. Also missing might be cables or software that may have been included with the retail version. Finally, there may be no or reduced instructions included with the OEM version of the product. A good example of these differences can be seen between an OEM and retail hard drive. The retail version is often referred to as a kit because it includes with it the drive cables, installation instructions, warranty cards and any software packages used to help configure or run the drive. The OEM version of the drive will only include the hard drive in a sealed anti-static bag with no other materials. Sometimes this will be referred to as a "bare drive". Retail vs. OEM Since price is such a huge factor in the purchase of product by consumers, OEM products offer a major advantage over a retail product. The reduced items and packaging can drastically reduce the cost of a computer component over a retail version. This leads to the question as to why anyone would chose to purchase the retail version. The biggest difference between a retail and OEM product is how warranties are handled. Most retail products come with very well defined terms for service and support in case the product has any problems. OEM products on the other hand will generally have shorter warranties and limited support. The reason is that the OEM product is supposed to be sold as part of a package via a retailer. Therefore, all service and support for the component in the system should be handled by the retailer if sold in a complete system. As a user who is building a computer system or upgrading a computer system, the retail version may also be important. If you are unfamiliar with what is required to install the component into the computer system, the manufacturer instructions can be very useful as are any cables that you may not have. OEM Software Like hardware, software can also be purchased as OEM. OEM software is identical to the full retail versions of the software but it lacks any packaging. Typically this will be seen with software items such as operating systems and office suites. Unlike OEM hardware, there are more restrictions on what will allow the software to be sold by a retailer to a consumer. OEM software typically can only be purchased with a complete computer system. Some retailers will allow the purchase of the software if it is also purchased with some form of core computer system hardware. In either case, there must be some additional purchase of hardware to go along with the OEM software. Be careful though, a number of unscrupulous retailers and individuals sell OEM software that is actually pirated software, so check the retailer before purchasing. Determining OEM or Retail When shopping for computer components, sometimes it may not be obvious if the item is an OEM or a retail version. Most reputable retailers will list the product as either "OEM" or "bare drive". Other items to look for would be in the product description. Items such as "Packaging" and "Warranty" can provide clues as to whether it is an OEM version. The biggest problem comes with the various pricing engines on the web. If a manufacturer uses the same product designation for an OEM and retail product, it is possible that retailers on the results page could be offering either version. Some pricing engines will list "OEM" next to the price, but others may not. Always read the product description if you are not sure. Are OEM Products OK? There should be no physical difference in a component if it is sold as OEM or in retail. The difference is the extras that are provided with the retail version. If you are comfortable with the terms of the OEM product compared to the retail version, then it is generally better to buy the OEM product for the reduced cost. If items such as product warranties bother you, purchase the retail versions for the peace of mind they provide.