A number of residents from this community are concerned that an official plan amendment and zone change for a multi-national explosives company could endanger the entire Grand River watershed.
An open house is set for March 3 at the East Luther Grand Valley Township office, at 5 Main Street North in Grand Valley, to hear comments about the proposal.
Resident Mark Thorpe said in an interview that about 10 to 12 years ago, a small operation began on the property, with a small shed being used to store ammonium nitrate, an explosive.
But, he said, Orica – a huge multinational explosives and mining supply company – is now operating there, and nobody was notified of the change. He said the company has “two big silos for storage” and added that four large trucks carrying about 60,000 tonnes of material visit the site every day.
Thorpe said the ammonium nitrate there is not the farm fertilizer that many would think of when considering that substance. It is used for blasting.
He said last week a tractor trailer carrying blasting caps jackknifed while visiting the site.
Thorpe said what irks him is all other landowners have to abide by every environmental rule, and it seems Orica can do whatever it proposes.
“This is about the most dangerous thing they could put there,” Thorpe said. He added there is an uncapped well on the property, which sits close to the Luther Marsh aquifer, and a nearby stream that feeds the Grand River.
The owner of the land is Klaus Friesecke, and Orica, with its worldwide headquarters in Australia, is being represented by Chris Pattison.
The land is at emergency number 033411 on Sideroad 21-22, Concession 4 South. Its current designation is agricultural and environmental protection, and the proposal is to change that to a special policed area and environmental protection.
On April 14, council will hold another public meeting to consider the proposal at its council meeting at 7pm.
The March 3 meeting is from 7 to 8:30pm and will begin with a presentation by the applicants’ consultant, followed by a question and answer period. There will be information packages and an opportunity to speak one-on-one with the applicant and the consulting team.
The purpose of the application is to permit the continued operation of the existing temporary explosive storage and distribution facility. The facility operates under a federal licence.
The notice placed on the township’s website states, “The zoning bylaw amendment would provide site specific permission for the use and site specific requirements. A site plan application has also been received for the development of the site.”
Another neighbour near the site is Peter Turrell, who says the entire proposal is dangerous. He noted the location of the recent truck jackknifing was also the site of another one in December.
Turrell said one of the company’s trucks blew up in Mexico in September of 2007, killing 27 people and injuring another 50.
“They drive through Wellington County every day of the week with 40,000 kilos [in the load],” he added.
Turrell runs a company called Environmental Services, which does cleanups of environmental messes. He said ammonium nitrate is soluble in water, and that is why the entire watershed could be affected if there is a spill and it reaches the water or the aquifer.
As well, he said if it burns it gives off toxic gas.
“In every country but Canada it is a known cause of stomach cancer,” Turrell said, adding he fears a major accident “would wipe out the aquifer.”
He said Luther Marsh is the most significant aquifer in southern Ontario, and he has been trying to generate interest from municipalities downstream that get their drinking water from the Grand River.
“We’re trying to get answers,” he said of the proposal.
Thorpe’s wife, Sue Grossvenor, said she would not object if the company built over bedrock because that would afford the aquifer some protection.
She added that she is not impressed with Orica’s safety record, and noted the company has changed its name several times.
“We find it a very inappropriate site for a toxin,” said Turrell, adding, “I’m about to call the City of Brantford.”
East Luther Grand Valley Chief Administrative Officer Jane Wilson said the township has received “some complaints.”
She said the application is not to expand the site for storage to 150 acres, as was been suggested by some of the neighbours – but she is not sure of the exact acreage.
She said the township planner works only one day a week, Wednesdays, and she has the file.
Wilson said if there are a lot of questions to be asked, council deems it better to have an open house format so all of them can be answered, rather than in a formal public meeting, which will come later.
Attempts to reach Orica’s head office staff in Bownsburg-Chatham, Quebec were unsuccessful. Phone messages were not returned.
