Ontario township to get gasification plant

Southgate Township officials in Canada's Ontario Province say a company has agreed to build a gasification plant that can turn garbage into electricity.

The demonstration facility is to be built in an industrial park south of Dundalk, Ontario, about 70 miles northwest of Toronto. It is to eventually be followed by a full-size facility that would accept garbage from nearby communities, the Toronto Star reported Thursday.

Ontario is in the midst of a waste disposal crisis, with municipalities and businesses sending nearly 4 million tons of garbage to Michigan each year because there's no place in which to dispose of it in Canada.

In addition, the Star says the province doesn't have enough electrical generating capacity and faces the prospect of brownouts this summer.

Those two problems -- coupled with public opposition to creating new landfills -- have reportedly resulted in many communities beginning to consider establishing incinerators that would produce energy.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International