Public debate over proposed biofuel plant on Semiahmoo First Nation heats up
Posted October 23, 2023 6:18 pm.
There’s a push from a citizens group in South Surrey to convince the Semiahmoo First Nation to abandon plans to build a biofuel plant in the area.
The facility is set to be built on the First Nation’s land, not far from The Hills at Portal Golf Club. According to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, the project is to be built on about two hectares of land, near the Canada-U.S. border.
The plant would take organic waste and turn it into biogas, which the company behind the project, Andion, says can “be used as fuel in place of gas retrieved from harmful extraction methods.”
However, there’s been much opposition to the plan. Some locals fear the project will worsen air quality and cause unpleasant odours, among other issues.
“We deserve to breathe clean air and that’s a really big part of our message,” said Suzanne Smith with Clean Air Alliance, a local citizens’ group.
“We just feel that that land is a living, beautiful piece of property, with the little Campbell River only 500 metres away.”
Andion acknowledges there will be brief periods where people in the area may smell odours, based on air dispersion models.
However, Philip Abrary, the president of Andion North America, insists many of the fears being expressed by locals are not based in reality.
“Everything is processed inside buildings and inside vessels, and then all of the air is through negative pressure sucked out of these vessels and buildings and put through a multi-step odour handling system,” he told CityNews.
“Generally speaking, this facility should not be emitting any odours outside of its, sort of, buildings,” Abrary added.
Abrary says air dispersion models can be difficult to interpret, and worries that misinterpretations “perhaps led to conclusions that there was a sort of toxic fumes coming from the plant.”
“But there’s no such thing in terms of that. And, keeping in mind, all the modelling we did ignores all of the background pollutants in the air that already exist,” he explained.
According to the company, the plant in South Surrey would divert 70,000 tonnes of organic waste away from landfill, and claims it will eliminate more than 50,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
Abrary is assuring the public the facility would adhere to all environmental regulations, adding reviews have been conducted by Health Canada and other agencies to ensure requirements are met.
“And if we would surpass any health limits, then the permit would not be granted. So we have to ensure that we’re always below the minimum requirements,” he said.
Surrey city councillor Linda Annis has also expressed her concerns about this project, urging the Semiahmoo First Nation to reconsider the facility she says will “negatively impact nearby residential neighbours.”
Annis says the concerns don’t just surround odour. She says noise, pollution, and traffic are also aspects to consider.
“The traffic that’s coming into the area, the number of large trucks coming in and close to a residential area with very limited access in,” she explained. “Quite frankly, this isn’t a place for this type of facility, it should be more in an industrial environment.”
The councillor notes that while the city doesn’t have a say in this project, she felt compelled to speak out.
“I applaud Chief (Harley) Chappell for moving forward with economic development for the Semiahmoo First Nations folks. But people have been speaking out, and quite loudly. There’s been several rallies taking place and we’ve received hundreds of emails here at city hall, people expressing their concerns about this being in a residential neighbourhood,” she told CityNews.
Annis says she’d like the First Nation to include local residents in consultations to fully understand the concerns being raised.
Meanwhile, Andion says it has consulted with the public, and is sharing information in an attempt to ease concerns.
However, many against the project are continuing with their push to stop construction at the proposed site.
“We believe that the establishment of such a plant would have detrimental effects on our quality of life, property values, and overall well-being,” a change.org petition explains.
Given the project would be built on First Nation land, in addition to approvals from Natural Resources Canada and Canada Infrastructure Bank, the plant would have to be green-lit by Indigenous Services Canada.
CityNews has asked the Semiahmoo First Nation for comment on this story.
