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The Durham York Energy Centre is an Energy-from-Waste (EfW) waste management facility currently under construction in Courtice, Ontario, Canada. It will be operated by Covanta, in partnership with the Region of Durham and York Region. The facility is expected to process 140,000 tonnes on an annual basis and produce 20MW of power. Operation of the facility is expected to begin in late 2014.

History
The Region of Durham and York Region partnered in looking for long-term solutions to household waste that remained after recycling and compost in 2005. In July 2009, The Durham/York Residual Waste Study was submitted for provincial assessment and was approved July 2011, finding that waste incineration was the best option.

Controversy
Critics of the project raise health concerns over the emissions from the plant once it is in operation. Incineration is known to have gaseous byproducts such as hydrocarbons, dioxins, dust, metallic compounds, and metalloid compounds. These airborne contaminants emitted from these facilities can be linked to negative impacts human health such as cancer, respiratory illnesses, and birth complications under long-term exposure. During the combustion stage of waste processing, the waste is reduced into ash and this is also known to have toxic properties as well. Durham and York Region commissioned a study of international best practices for incineration monitoring that recommended operating the facility under more stringent guideline than current regulation and that it be monitored by smokestack monitoring technologies to ensure continuous compliance. According to other documentation, other forms of monitoring will be implemented such as soil sampling, groundwater sampling, and noise monitoring to ensure further compliance with regulation.

Aside from health concerns, many environmental advocates claim that this will degrade efforts to take part in the regions waste diversion programs such as recycling and composting which is seen as counterproductive.