Full environmental assessment of plans to expand Portland Energy Centre’s capacity sought by Toronto East Residents for Renewable Energy
The Toronto East Residents for Renewable Energy (TERRE) group is calling on the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to require a comprehensive environmental review of plans to expand the electrical power generation capacity of the Portlands Energy Centre.
Located at 470 Unwin Ave., the Atura Portlands Energy Centre is powered by natural gas and has been in operation since 2009. Atura Power is a subsidiary of Ontario Power Generation.
TERRE made its call for the environmental assessment during a news conference on Saturday, Dec. 14, in the Port Lands area of East Toronto. Along with representatives from TERRE, Jack Gibbons of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance,Toronto-Danforth NDP MPP Peter Tabuns and Toronto-Danforth Councillor Paula Fletcher also attended the news conference.
According to a news release sent by TERRE to Beach Metro Community News earlier this week, the Portlands Energy Centre is “Toronto’s biggest single source of dangerous nitrogen oxides and the largest single source of GHG (Green House Gas) emissions in Toronto.”
TERRE said that the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks had not required a full and comprehensive environmental assessment of plans to expand the Portlands Energy Centre and instead asked for Atura to prepare an assessment “on air quality and the risks of the plant’s expanded capacity to people and other living things.”
In the Executive Summary of its Screening Report released in November of this year, Atura said:
“Since the PEC upgrades will result in an increase in the nameplate capacity of more than 5 MW, the Ontario Environmental Assessment Act requires that an environmental assessment (EA) be undertaken in accordance with Ontario Regulation (O.Reg.) 116/011 , and subsequently, the ‘Guide to Environmental Assessment Requirements for Electricity Projects’ (the Guide) as outlined by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP). The Guide requires a Screening Criteria Checklist to be applied to the project, to identify potential negative environmental effects resulting from nine different criteria categories based on current knowledge or preliminary investigations. Application of the Screening Criteria for the planned upgrades at PEC determined that the response to all questions is ‘No’, indicating that there are no potential negative environmental effects resulting from the project.”
To see the full Screening Report, please go to https://aturapower.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/PEC-Efficiency-Upgrades-Screening-Report-compressed.pdf
The report’s assessment that there would be no negative environmental effects from the energy centre’s capacity expansion was viewed as inadequate by TERRE, said the news release.
The assessment “ignores the climate and health risks posed by gas-fired electricity plants and leaves members of the public feeling that their concerns have neither been listened to nor adequately addressed,” said TERRE spokesperson Lynn Blaxley in the news release.
“So close to the festive season makes you think about wishes. Ours is for a safe and healthy environment. But what we got from Atura is a big lump of coal. We need the Ministry to step up and demand that Atura respond to our community’s concerns through a full environmental review,” said Jack Gibbons of Ontario Clean Air Alliance at the news conference. “(Premier) Doug Ford’s plan to ramp up the pollution from the dirty Portlands gas plant is bad for our health and our climate. We need to invest in made-in-Toronto solar power and Lake Ontario wind power to phase out gas power and lower our electricity bills.”
MPP Tabuns said at the news conference that “the very real health concerns of the community” about pollution in the Port Lands area had to be dealt with. “The province needs to elevate the environmental review so that the community and the environment are protected,” he said.
Councillor Fletcher also called for the province to “do their part to ensure the area is clean and healthy.” She said this was especially important in light of the increased development of residential housing that is planned for the Port Lands area, specifically the Ookewmin Miniising development which is expected to be home to 9,000 new residential units in the coming years.
TERRE is a coalition of Toronto residents and local climate justice groups who oppose the expansion of the Portlands Energy Centre and are working to ensure its phase out by 2030. TERRE advocates for a rapid, just transition to clean energy in Toronto and across Ontario.
For more information, please go to https://terrecoalition.ca/
