Up in Smoke

Special report

Up in Smoke

A plan by the Metro Vancouver regional authority would have taxpayers spending half a billion public dollars on an incinerator to solve the region’s garbage problem. Would that send Vancouver's Greenest City aspirations up in smoke?

27 Articles

BC Chamber of Commerce rejects Metro Van incineration and waste-flow control plan

“All viable options have not been on the table. And we’re convinced that our region can, and must, do better.”

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

May 8th 2014

BC Hydro's stern letter shakes up business case for Metro Van's proposed incinerator

BC Hydro's letter prompts some Metro Vancouver directors to push for a review of the business case for the $517-million incinerator.

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

May 2nd 2014

Metro Vancouver's proposed incinerator fails economic and environmental test: critics

"The province has to step in. This has gone beyond the taxpayers of metro Vancouver."

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

April 30th 2014

Proponents defend half-billion dollar incinerator as "least costly" way to deal with garbage

Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan said he hasn't seen anyone put forward any better options than investing a half-billion dollar waste-to-energy incineration.

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

April 28th 2014

Critics blast Metro Vancouver's 'greenwashed' new business plan for incinerator

“If I had submitted that to my board, I would be thrown out of the board room."

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

April 25th 2014

Straw poll shows divided support for $480 million Metro Van garbage incinerator

What some politicians are really saying (and not saying) behind the scenes at Metro Vancouver, as bureaucrats continue to push forward with plans for a new garbage incinerator.

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

April 22nd 2014

Nanaimo says, "No," to Metro Vancouver's incinerator proposal

Just days after the city of Kitimat soundly rejected the Northern Gateway pipeline project, the citizens of Nanaimo have sent a clear message to Metro Vancouver over a proposal for a garbage...

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

April 15th 2014

Coquitlam demands business case from Metro Vancouver for $480 million incineration plan

The City of Coquitlam is latest municipality to ask tough questions about waste-to-energy incineration strategy.

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

April 11th 2014

Incinerator contract called “rip-off of the century” is killed in UK

Delays, rising costs and increasing risks have killed a Wheelabrator incineration project in Norfolk, England, a regional centre 200 kilometers northeast of London. The regional county council met in...

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

April 7th 2014

Nanaimo city officials take a beating over Metro Van's Duke Point incinerator plan

Already home to a pulp mill and an animal rendering plant, Nanaimo's Duke Point could be the site of a possible garbage incinerator to burn waste barged over from the Vancouver area.

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

April 4th 2014

A deep dive into garbage: Vancouver Observer series looks at Metro Vancouver's plan to burn

VO digs deep into Metro Vancouver's garbage story. A summary of twenty articles. More to come.

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

March 31st 2014

Metro Vancouver's proposed incinerator a "sink hole" for taxpayers: Canadian Taxpayers Federation

“It's a sinkhole,” Jordan Bateman of the Canadian Taxpayer Foundation told the Vancouver Observer. “We don’t think this deal is good for taxpayers. It entrenches the need for waste. We also have...

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

March 25th 2014

The world’s biggest incinerator debacles. Could it happen to Metro Vancouver?

“It’s been an economic and environmental sinkhole for the city,” Detroit zero waste advocate Ahmina Maxey said.

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

March 21st 2014

Vancouver Observer goes to North America's "Greenest City" to see how it handles garbage: VIDEO

"Over 90 per cent of what's being discarded can be recycled or composted," City of San Francisco zero waste coordinator Jack Macy told The Vancouver Observer. "It makes more sense to invest in that (...

Up in Smoke

News

March 19th 2014

2008 Paris trip first spark in Metro Van decision-maker's push for incineration here

Metro Vancouver called Paris's incinerator “one of the best facilities on the continent.” Last week, it was being blamed as helping to cause heavy layer of smog.

Up in Smoke

Mike Chisholm

News

March 18th 2014