- Home
- Ministry
Who We Are
In 1985, the Provincial Government authorities discovered the major degradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) storage facility at Smithville, Ontario. PCB's stored at the facility were found to be leaching into the surrounding area. The highly contaminated PCB clean up by the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy at Smithville, Ontario utilized the government approved MWP-2000 technology to destroy 18,000 tonnes of PCB material including soils, shredded electrical equipment and liquids. The facility was in operation for a period of 18 months (early 1990’s).
For political reasons (during the Bob Ray NDP Administration) the Technology, once it had completed its mission, was ordered to return to the U.S. LAG Technology Inc. proposes to utilize this same proven technology to decontaminate many hazardous wastes streams including PCB's.
Market Opportunity
In September 1988 Environment Canada issued the “Storage of PCB Wastes Interim Order” under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act to establish proper storage methods for PCB wastes. As a result there are currently over 3,000 registered hazardous waste storage sites across Canada. In Ontario alone there are approximately 1,500 registered PCB and toxic waste storage installations that require expensive supervision, monitoring, and maintenance.
Storage facilities in Ontario house a total amount of over 100,000 tonnes of highly toxic wastes, including PCB liquids, electrical equipment and contaminated soils. Disposal and destruction of this waste remains a concern in Canada, as storage cannot be looked upon as a long-term solution to the PCB disposal problem.
Environment Canada drafted proposed legislation in February 1999 that would require all PCB equipment and materials currently in service and/or storage to be removed by 2008 and permanently disposed of by 2009.
LAG Technology will capitalize on the growth in demand for the Company’s services that this legislation will create. In Ontario, LAG Technology Inc. does not have any direct competition for total permanent destruction of PCB’s and other toxic wastes. In Canada, there are two permanent incineration facilities for the treatment and destruction of PCB’s. One is located in Swan Hills, Alberta operated by Sensor, formerly Bovar Inc. (publicly traded on the TSE). The other is Bennett Environmental Services Inc. (publicly traded on the TSE), which operates from Saint-Ambroise, Quebec.
• PCB data from Environment Canada and Ministry of Environment and Energy (Ontario) estimates $500 million of PCB waste still in Canadian market.
• 40% of Canadian PCBs are in Ontario.
• In Ontario there are over 1,500 registered low and high-level concentration PCB and toxic waste storage sites. These sites are comprised of PCB liquids, electrical equipment,
and contaminated soils.
• Ontario Industries generate more than 4 million tonnes of toxic waste where high-level temperature destruction is the only solution.
• There are 2,000+ known contaminated land sites in Ontario alone and in Canada this represents.
• $20-$75 billion for clean-up costs. * e.g. Toronto Harbor Front, contaminated lands clean up.
• The hazardous waste market in Canada is comprised primarily of toxic wastes in storage and in land sites in Canada.
Principal Segments
There are three major principal segments in the market:
1. Petroleum contaminated soils
Low concentration of light hydrocarbons, such as gasoline, jet fuel and light diesel.
Gas station sites and other underground storage tank sites are typical producers of such soils. In the U.S., a significant competitive industry has developed in remediation of light contaminated soils. The processing fee at facility serving this market ranges from US$80 to US$200 per tonne. As of April 2001 the regulation (Ontario Regulation 558 Benzene) has changed thereby disposal of hydrocarbon contaminated soils can only be done at a hazardous landfill only). This implies that there are potentially, additional sources of revenue for LAG Technology Inc.
2. Petroleum contaminated waste
High concentration of heavy hydrocarbons.
Since the technology needed for remediation of these kinds of soils is more capital intensive, prices for remediation vary from US$100 to US$250 per tonne. Recent changes to Regulation 558 also apply.
3. Hazardous waste
This market includes wastes contaminated with or consisting of certain hydrocarbons, tars, sludge, chemicals PCBs, PCPs, etc. but excludes municipal garbage, medical and infectious waste. The processing fees at a facility range from US$200 to US$3,000 per tonne.
Competitive Position
LAG Technology ’s competitive advantage is to offer a permanent solution to the serious problem of handling hazardous waste:
• LAG Technology is projected to be a low cost, one-stop operator in the remediation market.
• LAG Technology has nominal direct competition since it proposes to tackle niche market(s) with high value-added content.
• The company is initially focused on PCB waste treatment, which allows LAG Technology Inc. to operate at efficiency levels far above its competitors.
• The recent changes in law that are fostering LAG Technology ’s potential growth are the recent ban on PCB landfills in Canada and the United States.
• LAG Technology plans to employ proven certified technology (i.e. approved by Ministry of Environment and Energy of Ontario and Environmental Protection Agency for all US States).