ELMIRA PET PRODUCTS

This is an interesting case from a number of perspectives. In hindsight I wonder why there hasn't been more organized opposition over the decades to the odours coming from this plant. It is especially odd when you consider the organized opposition that occurred when the Woolwich Bio-En facility was first proposed to be built beside the pet food plant on Arthur St. north. Again while there were issues in regards to truck traffic, the largest concern seemed to be that of odours. Afterall the bio-energy plant was taking food wastes and turning them into methane gas to run a generator to produce electricity which was then sold back into our hydro grid. It seemed that local residents knew what they were stuck with regarding pet food production odours and either felt that more was simply too much or that the odours from Woolwich Bio-En might be worse.

I have had communications from several Elmira locals as well as residents closer to the downtown. Some of the local residents are very upset and angry that these unpleasant but presumably (?) non-toxic odours continue to make their backyards on occasion unusable. The legal term is that citizens have a right to the enjoyment of their property and this company off and on for decades has infringed upon that legal right. Quoting myself "Canada has the best legal system in the world, that money can buy." Without the addition of citizens' hard earned money, the law is essentially an ass and that's exactly how the powers that be intended it to be. Afterall in their opinions laws are for the little people while the wealthy and powerful can and do buy their way around the law.

Two different citizens have suggested to me that despite all the fancy language and technical jargon from Elmira Pet Products supposedly explaining their difficulties stopping odours over the last couple of years that in fact it's all about money and cost of filters or scrubbers that are cheaper either not to clean/maintain/replace on a regular basis or simply to by-pass. I do not know if that is accurate or not but I do know that outside experts blasted Uniroyal Chemical in 1999-2000 after years/decades of toxic and odourous emissions. Outdated air models, uncovered outside storage of sludges and a far too slow upgrading of their emissions controls were all exposed as the cause of the horrible and disgusting Duke St. fumigations that went on for three summers in a row (1998-2001).

If Elmira Pet Products are playing similar games then they deserve the condemnation of all residents of Elmira as well as of local, regional and provincial politicians. Of course expecting politicians to take sides against industry may be going against the grain for them.