The Eaglet Lake Farmers' Institute (EFLI) has not given up the fight to stop construction of a lime-making plant and accompanying quarry near Giscome, despite the project passing a provincial environmental assessment.
The project's proponent, Richmond-based Graymont, has submitted applications to the Agricultural Land Reserve and the Major Mines Permitting Office, and EFLI hopes to have it stopped at one of those two points.
The ALR application will go before the Fraser-Fort George Regional District board of directors on Thursday. It's to remove land for a conveyor to transfer the raw product from the quarry, about 400 metres from the edge of Eaglet Lake, to the plant, 4.3 kilometres away.
The EFLI scored a minor victory when it was able to extend the agency referral period by a month over confusion about whether the project remained subject to an ALR application.
However, the opportunity to stop the project through the ALR process may have come and gone. In 2014, the Agricultural Land Commission approved removing 16.9 hectares from the ALR for the plant.
Moreover, allowing land to be removed for the conveyor may be the better of two options considered, the other being to haul the raw material by truck. In a submission to the board, Graymont said both were extensively evaluated and though a conveyor is initially more expensive, it would produce less fugitive dust and emissions than would trucks.
Northern Health is recommending directors clarify whether the conveyor will be completely closed to prevent metal contaminants in the dust, such as lead, mercury and zinc, from getting into the air.
EFLI has not given up, however. In submissions given during the referral period it claimed no recollection of being notified of the 2014 application and raised concerns about the impact the plant could have on adjacent farmland and on the quality of the area's air in general.
Under the approval Graymont received from the provincial government, it will be allowed to burn coal to heat the plant's kilns - it will start with one but has room for two more - although Graymont safety and environment manager Rob Beleutz has said natural gas is the preferred option.
In an interview with The Citizen, EFLI secretary Andrew Adams, who also owns Hope Farms Organics, worried the plant will contaminate area farmland with mercury, sulphur dioxide "and all the other goodies that come out of burning coal." He said it doesn't matter if the farming is organic or conventional, sulphur dioxide will compromise the ability of the soil to hold nutrients.
Another concern for EFLI is impact on air quality. Modelling used to predict the maximum concentrations of an array of pollutants showed the public access point to Eaglet Lake bearing most of the brunt, although in a report showing the findings some figures related to Giscome elementary school were also presented in red. However, all the numbers were still well below the so-called "screening criteria," as presented in another section of the report.
"If these numbers would have been elevated above these screening criteria, NH would have requested a more in-depth assessment and discussion of risks," Northern Health health and resource development lead Barbara Oke said.
"In this case, the modelled concentrations were well-below the identified screening criteria, and no further assessment was required."
That said, Graymont must still carry out monitoring to make sure the actual emissions line up with the modelled or predicted outcomes, Oke added.
As for major mines permitting process, Graymont is seeking permission to discharge waste into Bateman Creek once it's gone through settling ponds. A public comment period for that application ends June 22.
