Andion, also frequently referred to as Andion Global or Andion North America is a loosely defined term assembling a diverse set of private limited liability corporations (some with, and some without the word "Andion" in their name) or the purposes of giving the impression of a larger cohesive and trustworthy brand. These organisations are for-profit brokers of diverse projects in the waste sectors such as food waste, landfill waste, animal waste and animal byproducts and wastewater that operate to a playbook of aligning significant level public funding with limited private funding, government objectives and relaxed operational restrictions under "special status" situations.
Anywhere a waste product can be repurposed to make a profit by leveraging public funds, "Andion" can be found. One could say that Andion themselves came from the recycling of "waste products" left behind when Austep Spa went into voluntary liquidation on June 20th, 2017 - this in business-speak is "restructuring". There is a growing amount of controversy surrounding the Semiahmoo First Nations Andion Renewable Natural Gas Project and the related application for, read more here:
"From the Official Records of the Companies’ Register (the “Official Records”), the Company learned that on June 20, 2017, Austep was put in voluntary liquidation by shareholders’ resolution pursuant to Article 2484 of the Italian Civil Code. Furthermore, the Official Records show that on June 30, 2017, Austep filed a petition in the Bankruptcy Court of Milan (“Milan Court”) for a creditors’ settlement procedure (i.e., a “concordato preventivo”) pursuant to Article 161, paragraph 6 of the Italian Bankruptcy Law, seeking permission to submit a restructuring plan to the court contemplating a partial continuity of its operations, which will then need to be approved by a majority of Austep’s creditors and by the court."
"On July 17, 2017, the Company received a copy of the decree issued by the Milan Court dated July 6, 2017, whereby the Milan Court approved Austep’s petition for a creditors’ settlement procedure and declared that Austep shall, by November 3, 2017, submit (i) the final debt restructuring plan (i.e., a “proposta di concordato preventivo”) and (ii) a request for certification of the restructuring agreement’s debts (i.e., a “domanda di omologa di accordi di ristrutturazione dei debiti”)."
"The Milan Court appointed a judicial commissioner to supervise Austep’s activities through November 3, 2017 and report to the Court every fact constituting a breach of Austep’s obligations under the relevant provisions of the Italian Bankruptcy Law. Austep must also provide an update to is financial status and expenses to the Milan Court on a monthly bases. In addition, the Milan Court declared that Austep shall not, without the Milan Court’s authorization, (i) perform any extraordinary operation, (ii) repay any receivable accrued before the opening of the judicial procedure, or (iii) suspend any pending agreement or enter into any new loan agreement."
Clarification of the status of the above arrangements is currently being sought by our investigators, and this page will be updated as further information becomes available.
In relation to this project for example, if the Semiahmoo First Nations - SFN - Andion RNG project located in South Surrey BC on the border with White Rock is built, this will involve private investment and equity including offshore funds with Business Development Bank of Canada equity financing, as well as Indigenous development and infrastructure funding, Natural Resources Canada's (NRCan) Clean Fuels Fund funding as well as the development of Indigenous land in an Ecologically sensitive area close to residential and sensitive sites such as schools, senior facilities and the hospital.
Because of the land status of being on Federal lands allocated to Semiahmoo Indian Reserve located on approximately 2 hectares of Lot 10-3 and Lot 11, the project is classed as a non-designated project on federal lands.
Of particular significance is that the information for assessments of projects on federal lands and outside Canada is different from assessments led by the Agency or by a review panel. Each authority responsible for completing the assessment must post the following documents:
The public are invited to see the policy and guidance for Projects on Federal Lands and Outside Canada for more information about these requirements here.
The listed authorities responsible for the project assessment are:
- Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) - Email: bcciarpubliccomments@sac-isc.gc.ca
- Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) - Email: nrcan_questions-questions_rncan@nrcan-rncan.gc.ca
- Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) - Email: contact@cib-bic.ca
One of our principal concerns in this SFN Andion RNG project approval is that these profit-driven entities have been entrusted to determine whether the proposed Andion Biofuel Facility, located in Surrey, BC is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects, which we would conjecture is an obvious conflict of interest - as is the lack of transparency or Public access to the proceedings in establishing the Impact Assessment Act (IAA) review under Section 82 of the IAA, which is for a non-designated project on Federal lands.
This process is required for projects on Federal lands to determine adverse environmental effects, and provide mitigation measures which would form conditions of the ISC permit and lease which are required for the project. The project was posted to the Canadian Impact Assessment Registry (CIAR) for two public comment periods beginning in June 2023 to allow for public participation in the review process.
Under the Impact Assessment Act, when a Federal Authority is required to make a determination under that Act, a Registry posting must be made which provides the public with a minimum 30 day comment period. All comments received from the public as part of this process are taken into consideration and incorporated into the review process. Public comments received during these comment periods will be forwarded to the First Nation and environmental consultants working on an updated environmental assessment report to ensure that comments will be captured in their analysis.
As this is an active environmental assessment process, the (unspecified) environmental consultants are already working on components such as wildlife, Species at Risk, air quality, wastewater, and odour, among others. They must provide an analysis of anticipated impacts, and consider several factors such as adjacent communities when conducting their analysis. (But on what basis? The deficient Air Dispersion Report supplied by the company with most to gain and using unverified data they supplied?)
This process is required for projects on Federal lands to determine whether there is likely to be significant adverse environmental effects arising from the proposed project. As the project is currently undergoing review, the determination by Federal Authorities of whether or not it is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects has not yet been made. (But where in this process is there any opportunity for Public or Third Party review?)
