Imposed
bans may be more hurtful than helpful; Now it's used heating
oil - what's next?
Owen Sound
Sun Times
Tom Harris; Dr. Tim Ball
Opinion & letters - Saturday, June 09, 2007 @ 08:00
Premier Dalton McGuinty says that Ontario's green plan
to be released in June will "outline big things we
can do to reduce our emissions of carbon."
If the way his government is handling the used oil heating
ban is any indication, small businesses that use advanced
energy and waste disposal technologies but lack high level
political clout should be very concerned.
When announcing the ban earlier this year, Minister of
the Environment Laurel Broten asserted that it would force
users of used oil heating systems to "be good neighbours
to their community because they won't be killing the rest
of us with what is coming out of there (used oil furnaces)".
Such strong language suggests she must be very confident
that her ban will help the environment and augment the
health of Ontarians. But would it?
Used oil heaters have been successfully operating in
the province for at least 15 years. Hundreds of small
businesses in Ontario, at least 20 in Owen Sound alone
- car dealerships, bus fleets, farm equipment dealers,
etc. - have invested in these systems to carefully dispose
of waste oil while reducing space heating costs. Strict
emission regulations apply and we know of no evidence
that these regulations are not being followed. Does the
alternative Broten now promotes - the complex process
of mass collection and re-refining the used oil so that
a portion of it may be re-used - actually have less environmental
impact than controlled burning where the oil is first
collected?
The only way to answer this question would be to conduct
a comprehensive lifecycle environmental impact assessment
of competing options for handling waste oil. Understanding
the complexity of this process, we wondered if the Ministry
had actually done their homework.
So, on April 20, we asked Broten to explain how she came
to her decision. Six weeks later, despite many reminders,
Broten has yet to respond at all.
One would expect that, if her decision was based on a
proper environmental analysis, she would readily disclose
the information we requested.
It is perhaps revealing that the minister announced the
ban from the local headquarters of the largest used oil
re-refiner, a company that stands to significantly increase
their business as a result of her decision. Flying in
from Texas for Broten's proclamation was the president
of the re-refiner company, who had an announcement of
his own - they had just purchased six hectares of land
adjacent to their existing property.
The president explained, ". . . more stock (used
oil) available encourages us to make the capital investment
to expand this facility."
Broten's used oil heating ban, and the way in which the
decision was made, should set off alarm bells for Ontario
small businesses - are you next?
You may be meeting all environmental regulations concerning
the product you produce or use but the government may
suddenly ban it.
Government has no business banning specific technologies
while promoting others. They should simply set environmental
standards that apply across the board and let the marketplace
determine winners and losers.
McGuinty must direct Broten to explain how she decided
to ban used oil heating - otherwise, Ontarians will conclude
that helping the environment is the last thing on her
mind.
Dr. Timothy Ball, chairman of the Natural Resources Stewardship
Project (NRSP.com), is a Victoria-based environmental
consultant and former climatology professor at the University
of Winnipeg. Tom Harris is an Ottawa-based mechanical
engineer and NRSP executive director.
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