Tynes Bay Facility Marks 20th Anniversary
The Tynes Bay Facility is marking their 20th anniversary, with five staff members — Alfred Furbert, Cheryl Jones-Stanley, Colvin Manning, Stuart Matthews and Steven Robinson – who have served since the plant’s very inception being acknowledged.
At the official opening ceremony, Minister of Public Works, Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said, “I am delighted to be here today to celebrate this auspicious occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility and to pay tribute to its staff and management, some of whom, as those standing with me today, having been here since its inception.
“The opening of —the then— Tynes Bay Waste Treatment Facility on the 27th of October 1994 brought to a conclusion possibly the most complex and critical project ever undertaken by the Bermuda Government. To understand clearly the magnitude and significance of this project it is important to review its history.
“Until this time, all of Bermuda’s garbage was going into landfills, most notably the Marsh Folly site in Pembroke.
“In the early 1980s, with 80,000 tonnes of domestic and commercial waste being generated annually, the Island’s only landfill site was nearing capacity and producing unacceptable problems for local residents. The Government of the day decided to replace landfilling as a method for disposal of combustible waste with the provision of a municipal waste-to-energy mass burn incinerator.
“In 1987 the Government engaged Von Roll Ltd. of Switzerland to design, procure and install the incinerator’s mechanical and electrical plant. In-depth hearings and extensive environmental impact studies were initiated before it was concluded that the predicted impact on the environment would be acceptable and thus approval was given to restart the project.
“At the start of 1991 the Ministry project team faced the challenges of coordinating the design and the considerable task of bringing together the multi-national workforce to construct the $70 million facility on this small, isolated, mid-Atlantic island.
“Today, this facility manages the disposal of the island’s some 60,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste annually. Which means, since inception the plant has processed close to one and a quarter (1 ¼) million tonnes of waste and produced over 400 million kilowatt-hours of electricity through its Waste-to-Energy process. That’s enough electricity to power the entire country for a full Eight months.
“As a further benefit, the reverse osmosis water plant on North Shore, which has the capacity to produce 1 million gallons of drinking water per day, is powered entirely by a direct electrical link from Tynes Bay.
“It is worth bearing in mind that the opening of this facility was also the impetus for Bermuda’s Comprehensive Waste Management Plan — waste items are now classified and sorted by type based on the safest disposal method available to Bermuda.
“Prior to this, all waste was simply landfilled at Marsh Folly, now waste must be classified as either combustible or noncombustible to handle those waste streams which cannot come to Tynes Bay.
“As a result, we now have a robust recycling programme for TAG [Tin, Aluminium & Glass], electronic or eWaste, household air conditioners, vehicle batteries, household batteries — a municipal composting programme, A special waste programme for hazardous chemicals, paints and pesticides, etc.
Commitment to Training and Succession Planning
Minister Gordon-Pamplin continued, “The Tynes Bay facility requires highly skilled technical personnel for its operation and maintenance, including power engineers, millwrights and Instrumentation technicians. In 2008 the Government saw the need to train young Bermudian’s to fill these roles sustainably in the future and created an overseas training program in conjunction with the National Training Board to meet this need.
“After six years the program has produced 8 fully qualified power engineers, 3 millwrights and 2 instrumentation technicians who are all currently employed at the facility where they work with, and gain experience from, seasoned professionals who have operated and maintained the plant for the last twenty years.
Leaders in industry
“Tynes Bay is a highly sophisticated facility that is unique not only to Bermuda but the entire Caribbean. As the waste generation of our Caribbean neighbors grows, they too are now encountering the same challenges we faced in 1980 of shrinking landfills and are in need of disposal solutions for their waste.
“Increasingly they have come to Bermuda and found the Tynes Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility to be a sustainable model that has stood the test of time, relying on robust technology suitable for our similarly isolated and pristine island environments.
The Future
“Bermuda should be proud to have successfully owned and operated its own Waste-to-Energy plant for twenty years, a milestone of achievement and a testament to the innovative and forward thinking nature of Bermudians,” the Minister added.
“As we again look to the future of waste management, where new technologies and industries jostle for our attention, we can rest assured that our investment in Tynes Bay, which has served us so well these past 20 years, now places us in a position of experience, knowledge and power to determine what will best serve Bermuda for the next 20 years to come.
“To celebrate this occasion, the Tynes Bay facility will be hosting two open houses during the month of October on Saturday the 11th and Saturday the 25th. Members of the public are encourages to make contact via the government website or telephone 296-0673 for tour reservation details.
“Before I conclude, let me be clear that what has been achieved at Tynes Bay is thoroughly deserving of recognition, however its success today would not have been achieved without its highly committed and long serving staff members, many of whom started their careers at Tynes Bay and have demonstrated their ongoing commitment and professional acumen.
“On behalf of the Government, let me take this opportunity to say thank you to the entire Tynes Bay staff and a special thank you to these five staff members who have served since the plant’s very inception.
“To Mr. Alfred Furbert, Mrs. Cheryl Jones-Stanley, Mr. Colvin Manning, Mr. Stuart Matthews and Mr. Steven Robinson, I would now like to present to you, a token of gratitude for your twenty years of dedication and commitment.”
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Category: All, Environment, News
and the men who built it…the good people who produce deficant and other forms of rubbish that keep these pople employed…hell…if there was a way we could get some o’dat political rancor and dispose of it there would’t that be something…or maybe…just maybe…we can convince them to run out that door three flights up with no stairwell outside it…a real and present danger exists there…wouldn’t you say john?
Hmmm… No mention of the huge cost overrun due to construction delays caused mainly by the PLP & what is now the BEST group, which fought it every step of the way.
Go run across the Ocean in a bubble or something… Gosh you bore me!
Thank you plp
One more thing the PLP were against, It’s just one of the best things the UBP
did.
P.S. And some people still won’t use so they just throw their trash in the bushes/trees
Without the PLP the facility might be celebrating year 25 & millions would have been saved.
Like de U.B.P were against de Fast Ferries.
Selective memory kicking in again Kunta?
You might check to see that the UBP did the research work on the need for faster ferries. The PLP bought the boats from halfway around the world.
Are you all that dumb? This site removed one of the most pictureque sites that we had on the island. It takes the breeze from the North side facing Canada and spreads the strench along the Palmetto. And with more insult, it never produced power so we spend a fortune to Belco. Actually 50 Million via an SDO.
The UBP ruined the value of this land for all of Bermuda. Why are you trying to deflect this on the PLP? This build was a big mistake and now you want to thank Tessi for the SDO. What a bunch of crock.
Speaking of Tessi , there’s a very interesting story about the environmental impact study that was done (that was accused of being a waste of money) before the incinerator was built. Have you ever heard it before ?
Moving on , it has been reported that the plant has in fact generated and put back into the grid enough electricity to power the entire island for 8 months.
So, who’s lying here ?
You say the build was a big mistake . What do you propose they should have done based on the long term growth projections for the island and the subsequent amount of trash that was going to be generated ?
And if you think that the site was ruined for all of Bermuda maybe you should have a chat with the residents of South Shore in Warwick who now have that monstrosity called ‘Grand Atlantic’ next to them.
And in a way they got lucky. Imagine if Jumiera HAD been able to build their imitation Aztec temple next door !
Your emotions are preventing you from forming an accurate opinion.
OK , we get it , you hate the OBA but try to calm down a bit and be factual.