The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has approved plans to build a $12-million biodigester in north Elmira to generate electricity.
The proposal was first floated more than two years ago by a group of investors headed by Chuck Martin of the family that had huge success with Martin Feed Mills, then Martin Pet Foods, before it sold that business.
The site for Woolwich Bio-En is near that Martin pet-food plant.
Local residents and Woolwich Township Council oppose the location.
The Ministry of the Environment has imposed a number of restrictions on its approval, including a limit on truck traffic, noise and odours.
The plant would use waste from food-processing companies blended with some farm manure to run the digester.
Premier Dalton McGuinty has been in trouble for over-ruling local municipal governments to allow green-energy projects to get built, including controversial wind farms.
What's so special about green-energy projects? There are lots of developments people don't want in their back yards. Why not use provincial clout to approve all of them?
Or, if that's not such a great idea, then why over-rule municipal councils on green-energy projects?
