Centre Village resident Terry Jones

Members of a group fighting the NB Power proposed 500 MW gas/diesel plant near Centre Village voiced their concerns Wednesday at the Sackville Music Barn during the last of a series of community meetings the town has been holding in all five municipal wards.

“I want to trust in my community. I want to trust in my town office,” said Terry Jones whose home would be next to the gas plant property.

“Small communities shut down big projects all over and all it takes is solidarity in the membership and support of their council,” she told Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne who was hosting the meeting.

Jones pointed out that both the newly elected Tantramar council and the previous one passed motions opposing the gas plant. but now won’t agree to monitor developments there because it’s not in the municipality’s jurisdiction.

“I know I’m on a soap box, but my property value has dropped by over $200,000,” she said, adding that her property taxes are continuing to go up.

Council will decide

Tantramar CAO Jennifer Borne

“I completely appreciate you sharing your perspective,” Borne replied, adding it will be up to council to decide, for example, whether to follow recommendations from its Climate Change Advisory Committee (CCAC) and push for stricter environmental standards for the gas plant as well as a bigger role for the town in monitoring its operations.

“I certainly feel confident that there could be at least one [councillor] that brings a motion to accept those recommendations,” Borne added, referring to Ward 4 councillor Kristen LeBlanc who was at last night’s meeting.

Terry Jones also expressed concerns about the possibility of fires and explosions at the gas plant including the threat posed by a 57,000 litre tank of aqueous ammonia that would be stored on the site as part of its pollution control system.

She pointed out that under one of the 45 conditions imposed by the province, the U.S. company PROENERGY is required to work with the Tantramar Fire Department on emergency plans that include the provision of an adequate water supply for fire fighting at the facility and that the province must approve such plans “prior to project commencement.”

Fire fighters trained for emergencies

Tantramar Director of Protective Services Dan Duouis

Dan Dupuis, Tantramar’s director of protective services said he has had discussions with PROENERGY about issues like water supply, but suggested the gas plant would not pose any greater risks than what firefighters might encounter, for example, with a train derailment and that firefighters are trained to handle incidents that would require them to wear hazmat suits as protection against harmful chemicals.

Borne said that so far, the town has not signed a formal emergency plan with the company.

Midgic resident Juliette Bulmer wondered if the town has received any notification that PROENERGY is planning to start construction on the gas plant site within a few days at the end of the month.

Borne replied that she hasn’t had any conversations recently with the company and no confirmation on when it plans to break ground.

She added that both NB Power and PROENERGY are committed to holding another public engagement session and that the American company has invited both the municipality and the RCMP to sit on the community liaison committee that would act as a link between the company and the town.

‘Emotional trauma’

Midgic resident Juliette Bulmer

“The collective emotional trauma that our communities are going through right now has to be acknowledged,” Bulmer said as she referred to Mayor Wiggins-Colwell’s statement at this week’s town council meeting that the municipality should trust government officials to regulate the gas plant.

“It’s just so emotional for us and disappointing,” she added, suggesting that residents did not know that Dan Dupuis had been talking to PROENERGY about emergency plans.

“So, where is the transparency and where is that openness?” Bulmer asked. “We live here. We need to know and we demand to have some answers.”

Mayor Wiggins-Colwell responded that perhaps local experts have more environmental knowledge than those who were hired to conduct studies on the proposed plant.

“That is something I would like to find out too,” she said.

“But until we do, this is where we are. We have to rely on this,” she added.

After the mayor praised groups opposed to the gas plant for bringing their concerns and their knowledge to council, Bulmer warned there would be more presentations suggesting they would be much more forceful than previous ones.

‘Stand up for democracy’

Gas plant opponent Stephen Bulmer

Juliette’s partner Stephen said he attended the recent rally at the legislature in Fredericton where he noticed two police snipers in plain sight on the roofs of the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.

“They tried to intimidate us. It’s not a democracy anymore,” he said.

“So everybody in here, if you want to live in a nice place like Tantramar, do your part. Stand up,” he added.

“Stand up for the community. It’s time, no more bullshit, I’ve had enough.”

He said the gas plant would be operating for the next 25 years.

“When you live here long enough and you have the gas plant poison your water and your air kills your kids, you’ll wake up too,” he added.

“It’s going to take a long time, but it will happen,” he said to scattered applause, “because you didn’t stand up for democracy.”