Work underway at 318 Walker Rd. to prepare industrial site for proposed AIL plastic pipe plant. Photo: Will Kriski
A spokesman for Concerned Citizens of Sackville says the group isn’t happy with Mayor Mesheau’s response to their letter expressing alarm over plans for a plastic pipe factory on Walker Road near TransCanada Highway Exit 500.
“We don’t feel he answered the questions we raised,” Will Kriski said today during a telephone interview.
“He said, in effect, that it’s none of our business,” he added, referring to the mayor’s statement that plans for such projects are not typically made public until someone submits a building and development permit.
In his e-mailed letter to the group last Friday, Mesheau also says the pipe manufacturing plant being built by Atlantic Industries Ltd. (AIL) will create 20-30 jobs.
“This will be a state-of-the-art plant, which will include solar electricity, this will be similar to some of their other facilities in Ontario,” the mayor’s letter adds.
Mesheau also repeated assurances made to town council by planner Lori Bickford that aside from washrooms for plant workers, there would be no effluent from the factory and any well water consumption that does not meet provincial requirements would be subject to an Environmental Impact Assessment.
To read Mayor Mesheau’s letter, click here.
‘Dismissive response’
“It’s what I would call a dismissive response,” Kriski says on behalf of Concerned Citizens.
He adds that the mayor’s letter did not address the group’s concerns about a wide range of issues including potential airborne emissions, plans for on-site chemical and fuel storage or how any spills would be cleaned up.
Aside from concerns about the potential effects on their wells, the Concerned Citizens letter, signed by 35 residents in the Walker Road area, says the town’s water treatment plant would be only about 300 metres from the pipe factory.
“Everyone in town needs to be concerned,” Kriski says.
“We’re not attacking a particular project or business, we just need more information and the town isn’t giving it to us,” he adds.
“If we have to wait until someone applies for a building permit, we’re afraid it will be too late to ask the questions that need to be asked,” Kriski says.
He adds that since the site has been cleared and graded, AIL must have detailed plans for the factory, yet according to Mayor Mesheau, the public has no right to see them.
“We elect councillors to represent us, but they’re not really doing that,” he says.
On April 11, council approved a zoning change clearing the way for the proposed pipe factory with only Councillor Bruce Phinney voting against it.
The change allows projects to go ahead in the 177 acre Walker Road industrial zone where there are no town water or sewer services.
To read the Concerned Citizens original letter, click here.
To read previous coverage, click here.
I had hoped to include a reproduced version of the very lengthy article from the Sackville Tribune Post that was published at the request of Bonnie Swift during her time as the Town of Sackville’s economic development officer regarding the fracking industry – it was extensive and very illuminating. I think more information in the public domaine the better. Will Kriski most likely has a hard copy of the newspaper from that time about a decade ago…. to publish at Tantramar Landowners Association blogger, for the record.
I wouldn’t interfere with industry and development in this region… they need is very badly. AIL Group has a duty of care and plenty of environmental hoops to jump through no doubt — I think their intention is worthy of some consideration and respect — they wouldn’t pollute and expect to get away with it.. would they? This should be looked at as economic business development…. right?
Do you have permission from the author/copyright holder to reproduce the article? That would be required for it to be legal.
Permission? Its for the public record.
If its in the public and you reproduce it you merely state reproduced [with consent or without consent ] .. .what do you mean by the term “legal”?
Note from Bruce Wark: In most cases, it’s a violation of copyright law to reproduce material without the consent of the copyright holder. The Irving papers, for example, were pretty strict about any reproduction of their articles. And, those of us who contribute to Wikipedia know how strict it is about using copyrighted material — especially images. That is why there are so many Wiki articles on famous people with no photos. I tried over a 10 year period to get a photo of the late Nova Scotia Liberal Premier John Savage, but the provincial government would not give me one, nor would his family. Take a look for yourself https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Savage_(Nova_Scotia_politician) In the U.S., any photo of a public figure that was taken by a government employee is automatically copyright free, but in Canada those photos are under Crown copyright and you need permission to use them.
That said, it’s sometimes possible to skirt the rules. In this case, the material in question was a paid ad that appeared in the Sackville Tribune-Post. Not sure who holds the copyright, but since the Post itself is no more, it seems likely that its owner Saltwire would not bother to object. It would be safer though to get permission from the person who paid for the ad before reproducing it.
“Crown” copyright isn’t a thing Bruce. tsk tsk.
Note from Bruce Wark: Yes, it exists all right based on royal prerogative and more powerful than life and death themselves.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown_copyright#Canada
You’ll need to catch up and stop promoting the wiki so much… please… ‘royal prerogative?’ what nonsense.