It was with growing incredulity that I read Mr. Wong's open letter to the residents of Guelph-Eramosa Township (GET) in the May 24 issue of GuelphToday.
The President of Xinyi Canada Glass continues to give voice to scripted corporate-speak that attempts to sell the benefits a Xinyi Float Glass Plant will offer the Guelph-Eramosa and City of Guelph community with no specificity and where so few benefits really exist. We must never forget that Xinyi is a multi-billion dollar corporation. Any investment they make is calculated to ensure they maximize their profit.
The proposed massive glass plant presents a very real threat to GET drinking water supply, the quality of the air we breath, and any responsible development or use of Township land. Moreover, the proposed plant presents very real fire safety issues for GET residents and workers. It is for these reasons that not one of the GET residents who filled the Marden Community Centre to over-flowing at the May 9 Public Meeting held by the Township supported the proposed Xinyi float glass plant.
Using a business model employed in China, Xinyi wants to build a plant 2/3s the size of the Cambridge Toyota Plant on approximately 1/3 the amount of land. The corporation has requested alarming, precedent-setting zoning by-law amendments to allow them to squeeze a 2 million sq ft building on to an available property that offers road and railway access.
The corporation also plans to build an on-site dormitory - to house 50 specialty workers Xinyi will bring to Ontario, a cafeteria, lodging for executives, corporate offices, and a 300' emission stack, designed to be a height that will disperse emissions in an easterly direction over the City of Guelph.
Essentially, Xinyi intends to create a business bubble, a self-contained enterprise that will operate non-stop for 15 years, export 70-80% of its production to the United States, benefit from multiple years of tax deferments, create numerous quality of life issues, and cause deeply troubling environmental problems for which taxpayers will pay.
Guelph-Eramosa Township and Guelph residents are keenly aware of the ways in which water - arguably Canada's most important natural resource - is being carelessly managed by all levels of government and appropriated for corporate, bottom-line driven purposes.
Of the scant technical data and scientifically-supported information Xinyi has provided GET and Guelph residents to-date, the one figure that they have supplied is 1.6 million litres - the amount of water the float glass plant will extract daily from the same aquifer that feeds GET private wells. 66% of this water will evaporate during the production process. 66%!
In a Township area where the GRCA already has identified ground source water as at "significant risk" and the Queensdale wellhead is described as "unsustainable", knowing that 2/3s of the water extracted from the aquifer and through catchment will be consumed by the plant is not reassuring, nor is knowing that 1.6 million litres is just a start-up figure that doesn't, for example, include water used in the dormitory/cafeteria or intended future expansion use.
Like Nestle, 20 minutes away from the proposed glass plant, Xinyi will extract water by the millions of litres at minimal cost to the corporation. Where's the re-charge? How will our precious water be replenished?
Because climate change has become a given fact in our lives, what happens if we experience a drought and water restrictions are activated by the Township? Would a glass plant receive a pass and be allowed to continue extracting water because if they shut down it will take up to 9 months until production can start-up again?
What happens if our wells run dry?
Neither the Township nor the Province will step in to fix the problem. Residents will be left paying the price to find solutions to a serious problem for which there will be no quick fix.
How much better would it have been for everyone concerned if, at the time Premier Wynne made this business deal with Xinyi Glass Holdings during her Fall 2017 Trade Mission to China, the Premier of Ontario and her economic advisors had located and been able to suggest two or three suitable locations for Xinyi to consider as viable locations from which to choose one site to build a float glass plant? How much better would it have been if the Ontario Government knew they had locations with the pre-existing, necessary infrastructure, environmental vetting and approved technical studies completed, and municipal buy-ins that would easily have facilitated the building of a heavy industrial glass plant?
It is time our elected Representatives step up to the plate and listen to their constituents. The President of any corporation does not speak for the people. Mr. Wong is no exception.
Get concerned.
We are.
Sincerely,
Susan McSherry
RR6, Guelph, Ontario.
