Biodigester gets approval from Alberta Environment and Protected Areas

Alberta Environment and Protected Areas has determined a proposed biodigester at Rimrock Feeders can go ahead.

Foothills County Reeve Delilah Miller says council got the 43-page decision on Wednesday and are still going through it, including the conditions attached to the project.

"All the conditions are listed and they're very long and they're very onerous and we're glad to see that the province has included such detail and gone to such lengths to, hopefully what I think will be some assurance to residents that the province is going to keep a pretty close eye on this project," she says.

"We do have some residents who have concerns and there is still a process to go through and that's the appeal process so people are allowed to file, I believe until mid-January with any concerns that they have regarding this approval and then the province will review that to see what appeals they feel are valid, and if they feel they are valid they'll set an appeals hearing and that way everyone can be heard with the concerns that they have."

While residents can appeal, so too can Tidewater Renewables, the county, or others affected by the decision.

Miller says while Alberta Environment and protected Areas made the decision, they would have had input on the conditions and final decision from a lot of other provincial government departments.

She says county councilors haven't had a chance to go over the report in detail yet and doesn't expect they'll be able to get together and discuss it until after the holidays.

"It's a concern to us and we want to make sure that it's safe and it's done the best way for our residents and that's always been top of mind for us."

She says from what she's seen the province wants a lot of testing and monitoring done and there are a lot of regulations that will have to be followed.

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