Glorious weather greated everyone who attended the Opening Ceremony Wednesday November 10th, 2010 11:00am. 

MP Larry Miller, MPP Bill Murdoch, Mayor Alan Barfoot and Mayor Howard Greig joined representatives of Georgian Bluffs and Chatsworth Councils, staff, contractors, customers and area landowners for the opening ceremony.

With many area media attending, along with over 40 supporters, it was a chance to celebrate progress to date.  The building and site look great.  Soon all the electrical and safety approvals will be in place so that electricity can be generated.

A media release was issued.

Georgian Bluffs and Chatsworth are partnering to build an anaerobic bio-digester on the site of the existing sewage lagoon in Georgian Bluffs.

Under the Communities Component of the Build Canada Fund, the project was designed by Ross Slaughter of Genivar.  Chatsworth and Georgian Bluffs have agreed to share the municipal share of the project, and partner to operate the facility.

A public meeting held at the Keady Community Centre Thursday October 1,2009 provided a chance for the public to discuss plans for the facility.  The project was subject to public tender and on December 16, 2009 the Tender was awarded to the firm of Maple Reinders. 

The construction tender was awarded at $3.15 million plus about $670,000 thousand additional costs outside the tender. These included site clearing, tractor, material testing, soil analysis and engineering fees.  The Federal and Provincial contribution to the project is $1,666,700 leaving each Township $2.13 million to finance.  Projected operating budget for the facility shows a payback of the capital investment within 10 years.  The project is nearly finished with commissioning underway shortly.

This green energy project will digest organic material with the biogas used to run a generator and produce electrical power.  The project could produce up to 2400 kWh per day on the power grid. 

A variety of organic materials will be processed at the facility including septage, agricultural waste, and other appropriate materials that will generate biogas.  The project includes a biodigester system, pasteurizer, biogas generator and pumphouse as well as associated septage screening, piping, roadways, storage and operation centre.  A certificate of approval has been issued for the project. 

The digestate bi-product following the treatment will be 99.5% pathogen free while retaining characteristics of a good land applied soil conditioner.  It is considered a safe environmentally friendly alternative to direct application of raw septage on farm fields.

Georgian Bluffs and Chatsworth are represented on the Bio-digester Steering Committee by the Mayor and Deputy Mayor of each Township.  The CAO's of each municipality and the Georgian Bluffs Operations Manager provide staff support to the Committee.

The Steering Committee is currently signing agreements with prospective customers to deliver organic waste to the facility.  Municipal Staff would be pleased to meet with any prospective customers wishing to dispose of organic waste in an environmentally friendly and economically sound way.