By Courtney Duffett
The Oshawa Express
An Oshawa councillor is worried
about added pollutants and noise that
an Ethanol plant could bring to
Oshawa’s waterfront.
However, company officials from
FarmTech Energy Corporation dispute
these accusations, saying they
have followed all the provincial
environmental regulations.
FarmTech is currently seeking the
nod from the Ministry of the
Environment (MOE) before its plans
to build an Ethanol plant at
Oshawa’s waterfront come before
city council in September.
City councillor Brian Nicholson
says FarmTech submitted its proposal
to the MOE in August, a time
when council is on break and most
people are enjoying the summer, too
busy to respond in writing to the
ministry within the 30-day period.
“Once again FarmTech has
shown itself to be not interested
in the views of the
public or in the preservation
of our waterfront,”
says Nicholson in a press
release. “The timing of this
application shows that
FarmTech will do anything
to limit public involvement
in the process.”
However, Dan
O’Connor, president of
FarmTech Energy Corporation, who
did not respond to the timing
of the MOE application,
says emissions are constantly
monitored by the
province to ensure they
remain within safe legal
limits.“All new industry must
meet stringent requirements
for emissions as set out in
the Certificate of Approval
by Ontario’s Ministry of
Environment,” says O’Connor.“FarmTech will operate well within
legal limits for emissions as set out
by the Province of Ontario. This
industry is clean, green and safe.”
Nicholson says the plant will
impact the waterfront by releasing
emissions into the atmosphere,
including particulate matter, products
of combustion such as carbon
monoxide, sulphur dioxide and
nitrogen oxides, volatile organic
compounds such as acetaldehyde, acrolein and benzene, odour and
noise.
According to Nicholson, the
application also indicates that the
Ethanol plant will consist of four
baghouses, two flares, one cooling
tower, product load-out and one
dried distiller grain with soluble
dryer system and thermal oxidizer,
one emergency water pump, two
scrubbers, seven storage tanks, five
vented tanks, one wet cake pad and
fugitive components.
O’Connor argues, “The
FarmTech proposal has met all criteria
under the Environmental
Assessment Act, which includes
stringent federal and provincial
regulations. It has met the required
criteria set out in nine studies that
looked at the impact on air, wildlife
and water quality for example.”
The City of Oshawa is currently
reviewing the application by
FarmTech to amend its zoning
bylaws to allow for construction of
the ethanol plant on the shores of
Lake Ontario.
To date, the application has been
widely condemned by local
ratepayers, environmental groups,
waterfront enthusiasts and by many
local political representatives,
including Oshawa mayor John
Gray.
Residents can submit comments
about the application by Sept. 10.
For more information, to view the
application or to submit comments,
visit www.ebr.gov.on.ca
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