Flyash uses

I have consistently mentioned that the solution to the whole question of the fly ash is to treat it as a product. It is in thinking of it as such, that the solution lies. In the past, when the fly ash was sent to Rebanco, the ash had to meet technical specifications for it to travel to and be accepted by Rebanco. The fly ash was put into containers, sealed and secured and then shipped according to specifications. This worked for years, and only ceased to be attractive because of rising costs. Even if in the short term, Catalyst Paper- Powell River Division must now use Rebanco again, it can now utilize the whole concept of mixing water with the fly ash to form a solid. In forming a solid “product” for shipment, handling and transportation costs are significantly lower than using empty canisters that must be handled both when empty and full, and have a unit cost of their own.

Also, once the fly ash is solid, it is acceptable to other, more localized, facilities than just Rebanco. If the fly ash was cast into moulds that formed units of a size and shape which could be handled by the existing mechanical loaders now used to handle paper rolls, great efficiencies could be achieved in loading and offloading rail cars or barges.

While reading the Golder Associates technical report, despite its inadequacies, the discussion regarding the Crofton leachate, introduced the commonality of the fly ash from all the hog fuelled boilers along the coast. If in solving the riddle of what to do with the fly ash generated in Powell River; Catalyst Paper-Powell River Division could then also offer its solution to the other Catalyst Paper mills on this coast. Not only would Catalyst Paper gain a competitive advantage among other paper companies, it would give Powell River Division an advantage within Catalyst Paper itself. All the other mills along this coast are facing, or soon will face, the question of their own waste disposal. The first one to find a solution that can be offered to others within the industry would benefit immensely. Catalyst Paper – Powell River Division is in a strategic position now as it solves this conundrum.

A rational solution would be for Catalyst Paper- Powell River Division to recognize the reality that the landfill in Wildwood does not contain the answers to the waste question. Catalyst Paper- Powell River Division should elect to decommission the landfill as an attempt to solve its deficiencies and to limit the liabilities of the site. A new and separate business entity would probably need to be created to handle the storage of the fly ash solids, and other contracted items to be received. A rational search for an appropriate site, large enough for the entire industry to utilize need not take long. –after all, how many abandoned open pit mine sites are there? Nor should they be overly expensive. Even sites, as close as on Texada Island, offer significant advantages over Powell River due to a much-reduced rainfall.

A further attractive feature of this proposal is that there is a built in incentive for the producers of the ash to find some sort of use for even small portions of the ash being handled. As part of the process, the sending facility that produces the ash would be in a position to easily implement reductions of volumes to be sent out for storage. The sending facility would be able to receive a benefit to itself by already beginning to process the fly ash. And the company in business to receive the solid wastes would be in a position to utilize the raw resource as it is being handled within the storage process itself.

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