Nanaimo city council has held off on taking an immediate stance to oppose the possible use of a site at Duke Point for a new waste-to-energy plant to burn Metro Vancouver garbage.
Council there has been briefed on potential options to block a new incinerator from being built there, but decided Nov. 4 to reserve judgment.
Metro Vancouver will later this month unveil proposed sites for a new waste-to-energy plant to burn up to 370,000 tonnes of garbage per year.
The Duke Point site is being advanced by proponent Wheelabrator Technologies in partnership with Urbaser and Seaspan.
Other sites are expected to be proposed by other bidders for the project, as well as potentially by local cities, first nations and other private property owners.
A new incinerator within the Lower Mainland is strongly opposed by Fraser Valley politicians, but their air pollution objections would be reduced if an out-of-region site is chosen in Nanaimo or elsewhere on Vancouver Island.
Nanaimo's chamber of commerce had warned a hasty rejection by council would send a bad signal to investors looking at the city.