The Durham York Energy Centre in Clarington east of Toronto began burning its first haul of curbside garbage Friday morning. It is the second phase in testing the newly-built plant before it opens fully to the incineration of the area’s waste. It is a profound time as the technology, which is well-proven and in use all over the world, stands to put an end to the mindless destruction of agricultural land by garbage dumping. “We had what they call first fire today,” said Cliff Curtis, commissioner of works for Durham Region. “They are still in the testing phase, but it’s the first time they fired the plant with garbage,” he said. Since last November, it has been using natural gas to test the various systems, “and now we are switching over to garbage to make sure it works as well.” The energy-from-waste plant, built by Covanta Energy Corporation, is the first to be built in the GTA in more than two decades, and will be able to process 140,000 tonnes of residual waste a year from Durham and York regions that would have otherwise gone to landfill. Energy-to-waste is a well established means of dealing with garbage in the far east, especially Japan and in many parts of Europe like Denmark and Scandinavia. It has also been put forward by Jim Harnum, head of Toronto’s solid waste management services. Toronto has fallen behind many municipalities in  this technology. There has been a deeply rooted opposition to any kind of incineration and this included former mayor Miller. The only alternative however has been landfill. According to Durham Region, the facility will generate between 17.5 gross megawatts of renewable energy — enough to power between 10,000 and 12,000 homes. Over the past few years, the project has faced opposition from locals concerned about emissions and the cost to taxpayers. The final price tag is $286.56 million, according to the Region. There is also an energy-from-waste incinerator being built in Brampton. Common sense of waste to energy 

The Durham York Energy Centre in Clarington east of Toronto began burning its first haul of curbside garbage Friday morning. It is the second phase in testing the newly-built plant before it opens fully to the incineration of the area’s waste. It is a profound time as the technology, which is well-proven and in use all over the world, stands to put an end to the mindless destruction of agricultural land by garbage dumping. “We had what they call first fire today,” said Cliff Curtis, commissioner of works for Durham Region. “They are still in the testing phase, but it’s the first time they fired the plant with garbage,” he said. Since last November, it has been using natural gas to test the various systems, “and now we are switching over to garbage to make sure it works as well.” The energy-from-waste plant, built by Covanta Energy Corporation, is the first to be built in the GTA in more than two decades, and will be able to process 140,000 tonnes of residual waste a year from Durham and York regions that would have otherwise gone to landfill. Energy-to-waste is a well established means of dealing with garbage in the far east, especially Japan and in many parts of Europe like Denmark and Scandinavia. It has also been put forward by Jim Harnum, head of Toronto’s solid waste management services. Toronto has fallen behind many municipalities in  this technology. There has been a deeply rooted opposition to any kind of incineration and this included former mayor Miller. The only alternative however has been landfill. According to Durham Region, the facility will generate between 17.5 gross megawatts of renewable energy — enough to power between 10,000 and 12,000 homes. Over the past few years, the project has faced opposition from locals concerned about emissions and the cost to taxpayers. The final price tag is $286.56 million, according to the Region. There is also an energy-from-waste incinerator being built in Brampton. Common sense of waste to energy 

Once again on Family Day large influential retail operations like the Eaton Centre have been permitted to remain open while small shops are threatened with fines if they dare to sell a thing. This legal abomination sits technically with the City. It’s a power Council has had since the Toronto Act invested it with the means to manage an embarrassing convention that Queen’s Park no longer wanted to shoulder, at least not in this great metropolis where people expect to be able to shop every day. There are many reasons why this unfair practice continues, all of them bad. Powerful realty companies and Lord’s Day hangover lobbies are two. The government will say it’s all about families and the fear that a parent won’t be able to spend time with a child. We have a hot flash. Thousands of parents are at work on Family day in exempted occupations ranging from theatre ushers to salt miners. Never mind the countless people at the shops in the Eaton Centre who would rather have a day off but are forced to work. It’s all as phony as Dalton McGuinty’s maudlin complaint that he just had to declare a mid-winter statuary holiday because he hadn’t spent enough time with his late father. What rubbish. There is a thing called the Ontario Labour Standards Act. It is perfectly suited to make sure that employees are dealt with fairly.  Those who don’t want to work can have it their way. Those who want to work should be permitted. Spare us the bogus concern about our families.

The Ontario health ministry is saying that as many as 1,300 people, most of them teenagers, were potentially exposed to measles at the two-day Christian event at Church of the Queensway on February 6 and 7, 2015. But this can be balanced against the likelihood that most of the youth present were immunized, as is 98  percent of the school population. See below 

The Ontario health ministry is saying that as many as 1,300 people, most of them teenagers, were potentially exposed to measles at the two-day Christian event at Church of the Queensway on February 6 and 7, 2015. But this can be balanced against the likelihood that most of the youth present were immunized, as is 98  percent of the school population. See below 

Health officials are asking anyone who attended an event at the Church of the Queensway to place themselves in voluntary quarantine. This after another case of measles was announced on Family Day morning.  The total number of  confirmed cases in Ontario is now said to be 11.   Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robin Williams says anyone who attended the Acquire the Fire event at the church  may be at risk. Williams said that a person who has the virus attended the event during the measles infectious period. Individuals who attended the events, and are born after 1970, are requested to review their immunization status to ensure they’re protected against the measles, the statement said. Anyone who has not been immunized is requested to “self-isolate” and contact public health officials, or call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000. They’re asked not to attend a doctor’s office or health centre without calling first to warn of the risk. “They should not attend any public gatherings and should not attend school, work, daycare or any post-secondary institutions until they are cleared of measles risk,” the statement said. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, inflammation of the eyes and rash. If individuals who attended the event develop one or more of the symptoms in the next two weeks, they’re asked to contact their doctor and their local public health unit. 

Health officials are asking anyone who attended an event at the Church of the Queensway to place themselves in voluntary quarantine. This after another case of measles was announced on Family Day morning.  The total number of  confirmed cases in Ontario is now said to be 11.   Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robin Williams says anyone who attended the Acquire the Fire event at the church  may be at risk. Williams said that a person who has the virus attended the event during the measles infectious period. Individuals who attended the events, and are born after 1970, are requested to review their immunization status to ensure they’re protected against the measles, the statement said. Anyone who has not been immunized is requested to “self-isolate” and contact public health officials, or call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000. They’re asked not to attend a doctor’s office or health centre without calling first to warn of the risk. “They should not attend any public gatherings and should not attend school, work, daycare or any post-secondary institutions until they are cleared of measles risk,” the statement said. Symptoms of measles include fever, cough, runny nose, inflammation of the eyes and rash. If individuals who attended the event develop one or more of the symptoms in the next two weeks, they’re asked to contact their doctor and their local public health unit.