Look closely at companies' histories

Posted by Magda
How important is history when selecting a composting technology? That question was pondered Tuesday by the committee tasked with picking a new technology.

Some city staff suggested the companies could be relied on to provide accurately their own history -- of projects that both succeeded and failed.

I don't think that's true. I wrote a story some time ago where I included history of some of the companies applying to rebuild Guelph's composter. The information was easy to get from the ministry. But when I called one of the companies to ask about a fine they'd paid over odours, the spokesperson told me there had been no fine. He then backtracked when he realized I'd been speaking with the ministry.

I hope the city will be very hesitant about signing up with a company that built a failed facility elsewhere. And I hope city staff will dig into company histories themselves, instead of relying on the companies to be upfront.