GuelphToday has received the following letter to the editor from Guelph resident Susan McSherry, on behalf of GETconcerned Inc., who is concerned about the proposed Xinyi float glass plant.
I read Tommy Wong's letter to GuelphToday on June 29 – the same day it became clear that Guelph-Eramosa Township's (GET) Mayor and CAO have been withholding key information specific to the City of Guelph's documented concerns about the proposed Xinyi float glass plant from Township and Guelph residents. Both the President of Xinyi Canada's letter and the troubling actions of Guelph-Eramosa Township's leadership offer reminders of why citizens must remain vigilant when it comes to the proposed Xinyi float glass plant development.
It's what is not being said or addressed that is most critical. The fact that the Township, Wellington County, City of Guelph and Xinyi Canada Glass Ltd held a meeting on February 21, 2018 to discuss plans to build a float glass plant in GET and that residents of the Township learned accidentally about this proposal on March 23 is a case in point. Frankly, it is the ongoing lack of procedural and process transparency and the apparent withholding of information that must be taken into account as far as this development application is concerned. Consideration of Township bylaws and the County Official Plan indicates that the proposed float glass plant development application should never have been accepted by Guelph-Eramosa Township in April 2018.
In a May 9 letter from Guelph's CAO, Derrick Thomson, to Ian Roger, GET's CAO, Mr. Thomson details the City of Guelph's unease regarding the Township's intent to allow “an Industrial Use within the M1 zone when the bylaw requires such industrial uses to be dry. The amount of water use proposed is significant, especially considering local water system impacts.” 1.6 million litres per day is a tremendous amount of water by any definition.
Mr. Thomson makes it clear that the City has serious concerns about the proposed Xinyi plant's impact on water supply. He notes that GET & City of Guelph have been working in partnership with Wellington County and the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) on a water budget and local area risk assessment. Mr. Thomson then references the GRCA's assessment of a Wellhead Protection Area for water quantity (WHPA-Q) that surrounds Guelph, extends into Guelph-Eramosa Township and includes the proposed location where Xinyi wants to build, noting, “Any new water takings within this area would be considered a Significant Drinking Water Threat and present a potential risk to the City's Water Supply system.”
On March 24, at what has become known as the Farmhouse Meeting, Xinyi management clearly indicated that 1.6 million litres of water would be extracted daily from the aquifer in an area where drinking water is at risk. Now Mr. Wong is indicating that the plant “will actually use less than 1.6 million litres of water...” but never gives an actual figure that shows how much less water will be used. If it's 1.5 million litres, for example, that's still a significant amount of water being extracted every day of the year for at least 15 years and possibly 30.
It must also be noted that Xinyi Canada's President never mentions that Xinyi will not pay a cent for the water it extracts from the aquifer, nor does he suggest that Xinyi will make arrangements for the proposed plant's water uptake to be metered and independently monitored by a third party agency. The fact that 66% of the water used during production will evaporate or how that conforms to a closed loop system is also never explained by Mr. Wong. Losing 66% of the water removed from the aquifer to evaporation was a detail provided by an engineer at the May 9 public meeting held in Marden. In an area where the supply of drinking water for Township and Guelph residents is already threatened, don't we deserve to know how much water will be lost or wasted in the production process, how any post-production water will be treated, where any post-production water will end up? There are so many water-related questions still needing answers.
Consider, then, why Mr. Wong has never publicly addressed the question of why Xinyi must drill very deep wells, significantly deeper than private wells drawing from the same aquifer, or why Xinyi must build a 300' emissions stack. What toxic chemicals, for example, are being scrubbed post-production? What trace elements will be dispersed in the air? The fact the stack must be so high says something about the amount of scrubbing needed to 'clean' emissions. Standing at 300', this stack would also ensure the dispersal area is broadened. Prevailing winds will carry emissions over Guelph.
Instead, Mr. Wong distracts the reader's attention from missing critical water and environmental details or data by turning attention to daily trucking and average rail carload matters. The information he provides contradicts numbers provided at earlier public meetings. Daily truck numbers have shrunk from 80-150 to 80-100. Average rail carload details and numbers have changed as well. At the Farmhouse meeting, concerned residents were told there would be 3 trains each week consisting of 40 railcars per train. In his letter, Mr. Wong writes the average rail carload “will be less than 20 a day.” Will there be a train every day?
Mr. Wong never addresses the enormous impact this number of trucks will have on already congested roads not capable of handling existing traffic, let alone what the impact of daily trains will be. Quality of life issues for area residents are not even acknowledged in his letter. Obviously, they are not his concern.
But, at no time either has the Mayor of Guelph-Eramosa Township or the CAO seriously addressed these issues with GET residents or Guelph residents. Instead, both have evaded direct answers, allowing Xinyi to manage all communications. Moreover, neither individual has ever mentioned Mr. Thomson's letter or the City of Guelph's concerns at public meetings held on May 9 and June 18, or meetings with GETconcerned members on May 29 and June 27 despite being asked by both GETconcerned and citizens of Guelph whether the City was involved or had concerns specific to the Xinyi plant.
Why?
What else is not being disclosed?
GET's mayor is accountable to and must represent and be the voice of the people of Guelph-Eramosa Township. GET's M1 zoning designation and relevant zoning bylaw concerning dry industrial use prevents heavy industrial use of water in the Township. The proposed Xinyi float glass plant would violate that bylaw and GET Council must uphold the bylaw on behalf of their constituents. A motion has been tabled asking GET Council to do exactly that.
The next Council meeting takes place at 7 p.m., July 16 at the GET Municipal Office in Brucedale. Please call or send notes to GET Mayor White, GET Councillors Wolk, Marshall, Woods and Bouwmeester reminding them to respect and uphold the bylaw and protect our precious drinking water. It's a matter of life, not profit.
Sincerely,
Susan McSherry
for GETconcerned Inc.
Guelph, ON.
N1H 6J3
