Location: Water Treatment Plant Road
Anticipated start: The week of October 19, 2026.
The Town has contracted BioBurn Pros to remediate accumulated clean wood waste resulting from Hurricane Fiona. The debris is located at the Water Treatment Plant Road site off Young Street.
Equipment mobilization is expected to take place this week and next week, with processing planned to begin on or after October 19, 2026.
The project involves the controlled, on-site processing of clean wood waste using an air curtain burner. This technology provides an alternative to conventional open burning and can significantly reduce the volume of material requiring disposal.
How the technology works
An air curtain burner uses high-pressure air to support intense combustion. This helps reburn smoke and particulate matter during the process, reducing emissions compared with conventional open burning.
The process can reduce the original volume of brush and wood waste by approximately 98 percent, leaving a carbon-rich material known as biochar. Biochar can have potential uses as a soil additive, helping improve soil quality, contribute nutrients and support moisture retention.
This approach offers an alternative to transporting large volumes of storm debris to landfill while creating the potential for a useful byproduct. The recovery and reuse of biochar from this specific project would need to be confirmed.
Why is the Town undertaking this work?
The project supports three main objectives:
1. Wildfire risk reduction: Addressing accumulated combustible material near community infrastructure, neighbouring First Nation lands, residential communities and Victoria Park.
2. Waste diversion: Diverting thousands of tonnes of organic material from landfill and reducing the volume of waste requiring disposal.
3. Sustainable waste management: Applying an alternative processing method to storm-related wood waste, with the potential to create a useful byproduct.
