Sarah Williams
Beaver Staff
On April 5, Greater Napanee town council voted unanimously against a proposed zoning amendment put forth by R.W. Tomlinson Ltd. that would allow an asphalt plant and ready-mix concrete plant on their 6.2 hectare property.
The land in question is located on County Road 2 and is situated in a residential area of Greater Napanee. Tomlinson currently operates a quarry to the north of the contested property.
While town staff recommended council accept the proposed amendment to allow for the asphalt and ready-mix concrete operations, many residents voiced concern, especially with regards to potential environmental ramifications.
Among them was Bubby Kettlewell who holds a B.Sc in Agriculture, an M.Sc. and a Ph.D. Kettlewell stated she had been to all the virtual meetings regarding this proposal and was confounded by the apparent lack of technical concerns presented by staff or the IBI Consulting Group, who was commissioned by the town to study the proposal.
“My chief concern is the notion that there are no technical concerns,” she said. “The procedures (of study) have been followed but that is not the same as scientific confidence. When you mix up the two, I think the narrative ultimately becomes misleading.”
In her deputation, Kettlewell referred to studies done using AERMOD to predict the dispersion of air and any contaminants within.
“Most studies using AERMOD refer to an error range of .5 to two times. If the model predicts a concentration of some compound could come in at 100 ppm, and the results from the real sample fall anywhere in that range, the model isn’t doing too badly,” she explained.
Among the pollutants that could be expected from the proposed plants would by crystalline silica and nitrogen dioxide. A quick google search reveals the many deleterious health effects of these pollutants.
“How well do the data represent the history of Napanee weather? Arguably not so much,” stated Kettlewell. “Specifically, there are microclimates and conditions in evidence that need to be better modeled.”
Kettlewell also argued Napanee already may have an environmental problem, citing one resident she spoke with who can no longer spend long times outside on their property due to the dust produced at the nearby quarry.
Another resident, Les Humphries, spoke to the concerns about the environment and specifically, the Napanee River which is a spawning waterway.
“One observation I had is that the groundwater study seems to be inadequate. It fails to mention that the Napanee River is a spawning water way,”
Humphries added that while the study notes the current proposed application location is in proximity to the secondary inlet, it doesn’t note that proposed plant would be upstream of that inlet
“Anything that might roll down through groundwater could end up over the river and into the falls and, therefore, have an effect on the spawning in the river,” he argued. “l would have thought a more adequate study would have been done to get to that stage. That’s a significant waterway.”
Pointing to the over 3,000 residents who voiced concern about this proposal, Humphries concluded his deputation by noting he does not believe the proposed location for the asphalt/ready-mix concrete plant is appropriate.
“There are more than 3,100 people that are not in favour of this proposal. There’s lots of comments from emails, phone calls and submissions on the Let’s Talk Town of Greater Napanee website. Having an asphalt plant on the top of the hill so close to residents does not make this a greater community,” Humphries asserted.
The proponent, Rob Pierce, also spoke to the issue, noting he had done his due diligence when acquiring the property and had ascertained that apart from a quarry, an asphalt plant would be permissible if the zoning amendment should pass.
“We concluded the Official Plan allowed quarry use, as has been ongoing for many years. We also confirmed that an asphalt plant is permitted according to the Official Plan, subject to site specific zoning,” said Pierce. “This understanding has been bolstered by the fact that in 2018 we ran our portable asphalt plant in the quarry and received no complaints. I’d suspect few neighbours realized it was even there.”
He also described the purchase of the property as part of larger plan to grow Tomlinson Ltd. while contributing to the local community and economy.
The first of several councillors to speak to the issue was Ellen Johnson. Referring to the environmental concerns surrounding the project, Johnson noted a large contingent of local residents have researched the effects this plant could have on the environment including the long-term health of locals and had subsequently expressed concern about this project.
“What I question is, are the minimum standards enough? While the diversification of use for the quarry could possibly benefit Greater Napanee, this is simply the wrong location,” stated Johnson.
Councillor Terry Richardson spoke to the need for councillors to uphold the will of their constituents and, bearing this in mind, he noted he could not support the project. He noted this is an issue that would have long-lasting impact on residents.
“How will this asphalt and concrete plant affect our community, those living here now or those who will move here,” said Richardson. “All these must be taken into account and valued for what they are. Don’t get me wrong, there are pluses and minuses on both sides. Well-being can be interpreted a number of different ways, but the question remains-what is the best interest of our community today and in the future? I do not believe the location of this plant is in the best interest of this community, either today or in the future, thus I do not believe supporting the zoning bylaw amendment is the right decision, taken into account the totality of information.”