A proposal to expand the industrial park in Lorneville is moving forward despite pushback from local residents.
The council voted on Monday to approve the zoning and amendments to the municipal plan needed to expand the Spruce Lake Industrial Park – which saw overwhelming opposition from the community through the last year.
The project is still awaiting the results of an ongoing environmental impact assessment. According to the city, it wants more than 1,500 acres of “pad-ready” land for the industrial park.
Residents in Lorneville said they are disappointed by the decision, saying it was “rammed” through by the council.
Adam Wilkins, a resident and Save Lorneville spokesperson, said in a release that while the group is not opposed to development, it should be done in a way that is “sensible and reasonable.”
He said, in an interview with The Courier, during and after the first meeting the group felt the intention of the city or province wasn’t to have meaningful engagement.
“It was just a checklist that they had to check off and it was nothing more than just crossing it off,” he said.
Wilkins said it mainly consisted of five or six pages of how the expansion would benefit the area. During the public hearings, nearly 75 people spoke out against the project, he explained.
“It must not come at the expense of the health and safety of residents, without the significant loss of wetlands and mature or old growth forest, and not without the complete erosion of due diligence, process, and trust in government,” he said.
The group doesn’t believe the council was genuine in its efforts to communicate with the residents in Lorneville.
“This long-drawn-out process was nothing more than a tactic, as the city and province bumbled along, making up the rules as they went, for a decision that had already been made years ago,” he said in the statement.
Wilkins said both residents and members of differing scientific fields have discovered several kilometres of missing water course that were never documented, old growth forests and what is believed to be the third oldest tree in the province.
“But nothing [has] slowed down,” he said. “This is the third oldest tree in this province and this is found in a coastal community that is about to be decimated for heavy industrial use.”
Another concern was the lack of information about what corporations were looking to set up in the industrial park.
Council previously heard there is formalized interest for a data centre project and a green manufacturing project with a combined capital investment of more than $2 billion.
Only “non-emitting industries” — those without smokestacks — would be allowed. Several land uses would be prohibited, asphalt plants, petroleum refineries, metal shredding and scrap or salvage yards.
The city would also require professional risk assessments, which it said will ensure potential risks are either prevented or adequately mitigated.
Wilkins said no one from the community was notified about the specific projects and industry until it was mentioned in a public hearing. However, he said even green manufacturing will have impacts, like light pollution and traffic.
“Well, data centres aren’t green initiatives,” he said. “They use insane amounts of water and electricity. Where is that electricity coming from? Is it coming from Coleson Cove?”
Coleson Cove is an oil-fired generation station operated by NB Power. He said if the source the city is using to power the industry isn’t green – that logic falls apart.
He said he doesn’t believe any further consultation would be genuine either.
“It’s just been a staged farce from the start,” he said.
Residents also shared concerns about impacts to residential life and impacts to well-water.
Wilkins explained some properties could be only about 150 metres from the site where an industrial company could set up in the park.
“The concern about psycho-social aspects, even the distress of the past year [which has] been put on residents and how hard people have worked on this. This has fractured and stressed lives and relationships and who knows [what] will be going forward,” he said.
Wilkins added in a separate statement the council seemed more swayed by speculation on what industrial opportunities might happen down the road, rather than the proposal to create development-ready gravel pads that led to the municipal plan amendment request in the first place.
Chris Watson, another resident, said there were no questions or comments by councils on any of the environmental concerns. He was the individual who discovered trees appearing to be among the oldest in the province.
Ian MacKinnon, the general manager of Saint John Industrial Parks for the city, said the task force worked in excess of 25 plus hours and produced a 100-page document explaining the outcomes.
“It’s a challenge and it is a very emotional thing, but as the general manager of Saint John Industrial Parks it is our goal to do development, encourage development, in a responsible, environmentally friendly way,” he said.
He would like to continue the ongoing dialogue between the residents and the city.
MacKinnon said the zoning bylaw passed by the council on Monday encompasses environmental type protections, low-emissions and no-emissions. He said an environmental impact assessment is underway by the Department of Environment and Local Government.
“There [are] also federal regulations that are environmental in nature, so all of those safeguards are already in place and have been [all] along,” he said.
MacKinnon said he speculates the EIA is nearing the end, but said its completion remains unknown. After the EIA, it will work to transfer the land from the province to the city and begin the process with a couple of proponents that have interests in the parcels of lands.
He said he is committed to ongoing consultation with the residents of Lorneville and the various stakeholders.
The Department of Environment and Local Government said it is undergoing the EIA process, which is independent of the rezoning process.
“The EIA review is an interactive, and iterative process through which the environmental impacts potentially resulting from a proposed project are identified and mitigation efforts are proposed to avoid or minimize significant impacts early in the planning stages of a project,” the department said in a statement.
It said the process allows for “opportunities of clarification of specific technical issues and/or the request of supplementary studies to be provided by the proponent.”
“A robust framework guides the review, supported by a Technical Review Committee comprising subject matter experts and specialists from provincial, federal, and local governments,” the statement reads. “Their role is to ensure that all potential impacts are thoroughly examined and appropriately addressed.”
The department said an EIA could take up to six months, but adds complex projects can take longer to complete.
“The EIA determination review process is being followed for this project and no decision will be made until all the relevant technical issues identified by the community, the technical review committee and First Nations have been addressed,” the statement said.
A statement released to CBC New Brunswick by the Wolastoqey group said the province and project contractor got in touch with Wolastoqey leaders, but the consultation process has not been completed.
The statement to CBCNB said Wolastoqey communities expect the province to continue conversations about the project’s impact and expects treaty rights to be respected through every stage.
— With files from Brad Perry, Acadia Broadcasting.
