BEESG Statement On Tynes Bay Technology

The Bermuda Environmental Energy Sustainable Group (BEESG) released a statement yesterday (May 30) in response to the Ministerial Statement made by Minister of Public Works Derrick Burgess last week.

” … While the Ministry will always remain open to new ideas and technology, we require the information to evaluate these ideas for accuracy, effectiveness and most importantly, suitability in Bermuda, before long term commitments, such as those being asked by BEESG, are made,” said Minister Burgess.

BEESG`s full statement is below:

The Bermuda Environmental Energy Sustainable Group (BEESG) was heartened to hear the Ministerial Statement made by The Hon. Derrick V. Burgess, JP, MP Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Works on Friday, 27th of May 2011.

BEESG would like to thank the Minister for raising this issue at this time. We believe it is appropriate and necessary for this issue to be elevated nationally, as it is a critical issue for the country’s future.

That said we are pleased that the Minister and his staff have carried out their due diligence with respect to our proposal to replace the current Tyne’s Bay technology with the Herhof technology. In addition, we are encouraged by the fact that the Minister is receptive to signing a non-disclosure agreement and authorizing his team to share information with the BEESG team.

We recognize that the Government is responsible for consistent and reliable service and as such should scrutinize any proposal that affects essential services. It is with recognition of the critical nature of this service that our proposal focuses on deploying only proven technologies.

Our proposal introduces technology which will replace Bermuda’s mass burn system by:

1) Increasing waste-to-energy output from 3MW to 20MW, further reducing our dependency on
foreign oil and BELCO’s central plant;

2) Increasing the amount of recyclables recovered from the current waste generated on the island;

3) Replenishing the fresh water lens through the processing of municipal sewage, while reducing
the amount of sewage currently being discharged into our ocean; and

4) Reducing toxic emissions thereby providing cleaner air and safer drinking water

Additionally, by implementing this solution BEESG believes this proposal will benefit our island
economically and socially by:

1) Generating annual savings of $21 million from Government’s operational budget and $117
million savings from the capital expenditure plan currently earmarked for the addition of a third
stream at Tynes Bay;

2) Transferring the future replacement costs of the mass burn facility at Tynes Bay from the tax
payer to BEESG, a cost projected to exceed $200 million;

3) Immediately creating jobs with no anticipated redundancies of existing Tynes Bay staff; and

4) Restoring Pembroke Marsh.

The BEESG proposal also supports many of the key elements of the Government’s upcoming White Paper on Energy and the Premier’s 2011 Budget Statement.

BEESG is committed to continuing to work with the Ministry to ensure that an appropriate agreement is written and signed which protects the interest of the people of Bermuda and ensures that the contractual requirements of our investors our met.

BEESG is confident that we can report back to the public within the week that we have reached an agreement with the Government to carry out the necessary feasibility study to determine whether applying this proven technology locally is economically and environmentally feasible.

#TynesBayIncinerator

Category: All, Environment