May 27, 2009

Thunder Bay, Ont. green projects win funding from Federation of Canadian Municipalities

THUNDER BAY

The City of Thunder Bay has secured $6.9 million from the Green Municipal Fund for four projects in sustainable community planning, wastewater and solid waste control as well as sustainable energy usage.

The announcement is part of celebrations marking the City’s proclamation of Energy Conservation Week and the launch of the Net Zero Business Guide developed with Federation of Canadian Municipalities funding.

“These projects would not have been possible without support from FCM’s Green Municipal Fund,” said Thunder Bay Mayor Linda Peterson.

“We are already seeing the benefits of these initiatives in our community, and they will have a significant impact over the long term.”

“FCM’s Green Municipal Fund offers a range of resources and services that specifically address the sustainable community development needs of municipal governments,” said councillor Linda Rydholm, representing FCM.

The Green Municipal Fund is an endowment financed by Ottawa and managed by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

Under two community sustainability projects, the City of Thunder Bay is developing feasibility plans that will achieve significant local environmental improvement and community development goals.

They include:

•Remediation of a 21-acre former snow and construction debris dump site near the Lake Superior waterfront in order to redevelop it as a regional emergency services training centre that will include green features for energy efficiency, water efficiency, and stormwater management

•Implementation of the Thunder Bay Climate Change Action Plan, with a corporate greenhouse gas emissions reduction target of approximately 35 per cent, and a community greenhouse gas emissions reduction of approximately 10 per cent by 2017.

The city has also completed a recent wastewater pilot project to determine if upgrades at the Atlantic Avenue water pollution control plant could include the conversion from primary to secondary treatment and the conversion from chlorine gas to ultraviolet disinfection, as well as the addition of a cogeneration facility and ammonia removal.

The pilot project included documentation for the development of a similar pilot-based approach for tailored replication by other communities across Canada.

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