WM opens $200-million renewable natural gas facility near Watford

WM’s Twin Creeks renewable natural gas facility is now operating near Watford. Here’s how it was built, how it connects to Enbridge and what it may mean locally.

WM has opened a renewable natural gas facility at its Twin Creeks Environmental Centre near Watford, a project the company describes as a $200-million investment that turns captured landfill gas into pipeline-quality fuel.

The company says the plant can process up to 8,000 standard cubic feet of landfill gas a minute and, at full production, make about two million MMBtu of renewable natural gas each year — energy it estimates could heat about 35,000 Ontario homes. The fuel is injected into Enbridge Gas’s network.

Enbridge says it built a 15.3-kilometre, six-inch pipeline and an injection station at Twin Creeks to connect the facility with its Brooke transmission mainline. The company says most of the route follows municipal rights-of-way in Warwick and Brooke-Alvinston.

A project years in the making

Twin Creeks began operating in 1972 and has been owned and operated by WM Canada since 1996, according to WM’s site history. The company’s earlier landfill expansion was approved after a 12-year study and consultation process, it says.

WM announced the renewable-gas proposal in 2023. Ontario’s environmental registry says the facility at 5768 Nauvoo Rd. is approved to operate around the clock, year-round, and must process landfill gas before it enters the Enbridge system. The registry record says consultation included Walpole Island First Nation, Warwick Township, Lambton County, nearby property owners and a local liaison committee.

WM describes the current project as a $200-million investment. In October, its site engineering manager told the Independent that the plant and pipeline together cost more than $150 million. Neither account breaks out the facility and pipeline costs or identifies public funding.

Questions for neighbours

The provincial approval record shows residents and agencies raised questions during the review about condensate, stormwater, noise, air quality, monitoring, maintenance and emergency planning. WM said in its application that it had addressed those comments.

The new plant is separate from WM’s proposed vertical expansion of the Twin Creeks landfill, which has drawn local concern about odour, truck traffic, dust, debris and noise. Case has said the gas project could reduce odour days, but has also said its performance will need to be tested.

WM says collecting and processing more landfill gas can reduce emissions and odour. The company also says the project will support ongoing technical and operational jobs, but it has not provided a job count.