To the Editor of GuelphToday,
We hope that GET Mayor Chris White has changed his mind about approving the Xinyi glass plant. He originally called it a wonderful “game-changer.” He has now had a township meeting on May 9 which over 100 of his alarmed constituents attended, many speaking against it.
He has now heard a well-known Toronto environmental lawyer, David Donnelly, address a large community group, detailing everything wrong with this plant’s chosen site. Many other individual letters to him expressed huge concern. Everyone else agrees Xinyi will indeed be a “game-changer” – a “game-changer” for the worse -- one that endangers us all on many levels.
The most noteworthy letter was from the City of Guelph CAO Derrick Thomson to the Township of Guelph-Eramosa (GET). It was a shock to us to learn via email (July 3) that Mayor White says he did not even read the May 9th letter from the City of Guelph CAO Thomson until nearly six weeks after it arrived. This letter stated grave concerns about the Xinyi glass plant, especially the Xinyi initial statement that they needed to take 1,600,000 litres of fresh water per day. Their wells will be 600 feet deep; the Queensdale well is 230 feet deep, and most township private wells are less than 100 feet deep. Water seeps between aquifers when there are fissures and cracks, so all wells are endangered.
Here’s part of what the City of Guelph CAO Thomson’s letter said:
“A water-taking of this magnitude has the potential to create well interference effects on the City water supply wells and in particular, our Queensdale well,…. the closest well to the plant…..The amount of water use proposed is significant, especially considering local water system impacts.”
CAO Thomson adds: “The report relies on future technical studies to be addressed through site plan approval and the permit-to-take-water process. Neither of these processes is an appropriate forum for determining permissions. It is the City’s view that the planning justification needs to directly address how a use that requires such a large water-taking can be considered “dry” in the context of the County Official Plan and GET zoning bylaw…” He also mentions many other serious concerns: “wastewater treatment and disposal, increased traffic, air pollution and emergency response…..”
This is in response to the fact that Xinyi has tentatively purchased a 121 acre farm bordering on Highway 124 and 32, and proposes to put up a massive, highly mechanized plant (7 stories high), right outside of the city of Guelph.
Xinyi has asked for many Zoning By-Law exemptions. For instance, they asked to construct dorms on the site for their managers – and also to bring in their own foreign firefighters which they say have to be on the scene 24/7 since fire is always a danger with the gas-fired furnaces which melt sand into glass. We note that this proposed plant would be surrounded by Superior Propane, UPI, two chemical factories and a gasoline station: online statistics demonstrate that dangerous industrial fires occur with alarming frequency.
GET Councilor David Wolk has served Notice of Motion for the July 16 GET Council meeting that the “Township of Guelph-Eramosa REFUSE the application by Xinyi Canada Glass Limited under COMPREHENSIVE ZONING BY-LAW 40/2016, Section 14 – Rural Industrial (M1) since the requirement of ‘dry use’ is not met in the current application.”
Poorly informed people think we will never run out of fresh ground-water. Wrong: Google search “world-wide water shortages”. Multinational firms now see Canada’s water as a valuable natural resource to harvest. Large corporations are buying land worldwide to privatize and sell water, or to use in manufacturing. When ground-water is depleted, it is gone – there are already huge ground-water shortages in China, Africa, India, Australia, and in the USA. Poor people die for lack of clean water. Crops are unsustainable, especially with climate change and droughts.
Look for more information on this website [ www.GETconcerned.org ]. You can sign a petition there, see CAO Thomson’s full letter, and find how to express concerns. Also, see the link to the twitter account. Come to the GET Council Meeting on July 16 (7 p.m.) at the Parkwood Gardens Community Church to see whether Council approves Wolk’s Motion.
Mary H Rubio, PhD
University Professor Emeritus
Resident of Guelph-Eramosa Township
