A group known as the Centre for Long-term Environmental Action in NL is urging government to say no to “‘waste traders” and a proposal by a US-based company to develop a waste-to-energy facility in Lewisporte.

The proposal by EnviroPower Renewable Development Inc has been submitted for provincial environmental assessment. It includes plans to develop a facility to convert imported plastic garbage into energy using a process the company calls “gassification.”

In a release issued yesterday, the Centre for Long-term Environmental Action says the public is at a disadvantage in offering an opinion on the plan through the environmental assessment process because the lengthy document requires a certain level of technical expertise to fully understand.

What the group does say however, is that news of the proposal has been circulating for over two years and similar waste-to-energy plans have been turned down in Europe.

The centre is saying no to “waste traders” and the importation of waste to Newfoundland and Labrador, and says government should stop the current proposal and any similar project from gaining a foothold in this province.