Canadian AD facility closes gates

Anaerobic digestion plant operator Fraser Valley Renewables, based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, has ceased operating in part because of court intervention, according to a report from the CBC.

The report says the company has drawn scrutiny from neighbors and government regulators related to the stockpiling of materials and owes several million dollars to one or more lenders.

Fraser Valley Renewables processes up to 150,000 metric tons of organic material annually. The company collects or accepts materials including food scraps, yard waste and recovered paper, including waxed old corrugated containers at its drop-off site. Materials in plastic bags are acceptable and photos on the website show several examples of bagged materials in inventory.

The CBC report says government inspectors in 2024 found piles of wood, plastic and rubber stored in ways the inspectors claimed were introducing effluent or runoff into the environment at a Fraser Valley location in Abbotsford.

On the financial side, if Fraser Valley does not reopen, a combination of lenders, government agencies and judges may be tasked with determining who will pay for any necessary cleanup costs in Abbotsford, according to the CBC.

Fraser Valley Renewables' Abbotsford facility hosts a wet anaerobic digestion system that includes a high solids anaerobic digester. The resulting biogas or renewable natural gas will be injected into the natural gas distribution system operated by regional utility FortisBC.

As of early September, the Fraser Valley Renewables website does not make any reference to the recent facility closure, while its Google online listing says it is temporarily closed.