Oshawa submits a compelling case against a proposed ethanol refinery at its harbour

City of Oshawa hand delivers its 300-page response along with 3,300 opposition letters to Ottawa

To view the Social Media Release, click here: http://smr.newswire.ca/en/city-of-oshawa/oshawa-submits-a-compelling-case

OSHAWA, ON, Aug. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - The City of Oshawa's six-week successful public awareness campaign opposing a proposed ethanol refinery by FarmTech Energy Corporation (FarmTech) on the shoreline of Lake Ontario has resulted in the delivery of the City's 300-page comment submission to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Ottawa. Accompanying the submission are approximately 3,300 resident letters in opposition, as well as influential letters from the David Suzuki Foundation, Council of Canadians and Margaret Atwood.

"On behalf of Oshawa City Council, a sincere thank you to Oshawa residents and to community and advocacy groups for voicing their strong opposition to the construction and operation of a colossal ethanol refinery at the Oshawa Harbour," says Mayor Henry. "Your opposition letters have been hand delivered to the Federal Government and I am optimistic that your comments will have a huge impact on the Public Consultation Review process."

The City faced a number of obstacles during the six-week widespread campaign.

1. City consultants were denied access to the proposed site by the Oshawa Harbour Commission (OHC), which was integral to preparing the City's EA comment submission.
2. The OHC refused to share any business cases, leases or data related to the proposed ethanol refinery.
3. The Federal Government extended the 30-day public consultation period only by two weeks, even though Oshawa Council requested a 60-day public review period extension.
4. The City of Oshawa is being portrayed as "anti-job creation" by the OHC and FarmTech when in fact the proposed ethanol refinery will have an extremely low employment density per acre (approx. 40 staff employed on the 30.4-acre site).

The City's comprehensive submission is based on an in-depth review of the Environmental Assessment (EA) Screening Report from a legal, land use planning and scientific perspective. The submission emphasizes that the Screening Report does not comply with the legal requirements of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA), fails to address serious land-use compatibility issues, and does not provide the data and analysis necessary to evaluate the environmental effects of the ethanol refinery. More specifically, the submission:

1. Denounces the "develop first, plan later" approach that fails to comply with the July 2010 Settlement Agreement between the OHC, the City and the federal government. According to the Agreement, future development is to be conducted cooperatively between the City and the OHC until a land use plan is in place.
2. Stresses that the proposed ethanol refinery represents "a very real danger" to the City, its residents and nearby ecological features, pointing out that FarmTech has failed to conduct a quantitative analysis of the likelihood of significant adverse environmental effects.
3. Asserts that CEAA assessment requirements were not met regarding environmental effects on surrounding land uses and ecological features from air emissions, noise, odour, vapour, surface water contamination, groundwater contamination and cumulative effects.
4. Calls attention to FarmTech's failure to assess risks to human health posed by the project's emissions of "fine particulate matter," a toxic substance listed under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act and linked to causing premature deaths in Canada.
5. Emphasizes that the proposed ethanol refinery has been misclassified under Ontario's Ministry of the Environment Land Use Compatibility Guidelines - a serious and far-reaching deficiency as the classification was used to limit the assessment of adverse environmental effects.

For details, download the Overview of the City's Comment Submission or read the complete response submission at www.oshawa.ca/harbour. 

Backgrounder

The City launched its awareness campaign on July 1, 2011 in response to a letter received late June from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada notifying the City that an EA Review was underway for a proposed ethanol refinery to be located on Crown Land at the Oshawa Harbour.

The campaign message is that an ethanol refinery does not belong on the waterfront and is much more suited to an agricultural location. The City quickly spread the word through social media, news releases, local advertisements and the printing of opposition form letters. During the six-week campaign:

• Brock Township, also located in Durham Region, announced its interest in hosting the ethanol refinery as it is an agricultural-related use that would be suited to their rural community.
• The David Suzuki Foundation, Margaret Atwood and Maude Barlow, National Chairperson, Council of Canadians, sent influential response letters supporting the City's position.
• Oshawa MP Colin Carrie reaffirmed that he is behind the community's opposition to an ethanol refinery at the Oshawa Harbour.
• Approximately 3,300 Durham Region residents signed letters of opposition.
• The Canadian Environmental Law Association, Friends of Second Marsh and Lake Ontario Waterkeeper announced their vehement opposition to an ethanol refinery at the Oshawa Harbour.

The enormous facility would include four grain silos, each standing 125 feet high (equivalent to four 12-storey buildings). In addition, the shipment of raw materials and end product into and out of the ethanol refinery would generate hundreds of daily truck trips near the harbour.

The refinery would be capable of producing 210 million litres of ethanol annually, which would require processing 525,000,000 kilograms of corn each year (approximately 10 per cent of Ontario's annual corn crop) and would result in approximately 168,000,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) emitted annually as a byproduct of the fermentation process.

This would be the only ethanol refinery located along the Canadian shoreline of Lake Ontario. It would be adjacent to the Waterfront Trail and to the Second Marsh, a Provincially Significant Wetland. The proposed facility would be near the picturesque Lakeview Park, a 46-acre community hotspot with a sandy beach, boardwalk, playgrounds, picnic areas, sports fields and scenic trails.

For updates, follow the campaign on Twitter, Facebook or YouTube by searching "OshawaCity."

SOURCE City of Oshawa