City: No to ethanol
For third time, council voices opposition to proposed plant; site remains untouched
By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express
For the third time, Oshawa city council has passed a motion to affirm the fact that they will not support an ethanol plant at the harbour.
The reaffirmation was supported unanimously at Monday’s city council meeting.
Mayor John Henry said he hopes this issue, which has dragged on for years, may finally be finished.
“Now is the time to finish the issue and get on with the development of a waterfront that will include people,” Henry said following the meeting. “We just want the message to be out there that this is done from our perspective.”
But Councillor Nester Pidwerbecki said he wasn’t so sure.
“It ain’t over till it’s over and this one ain’t over yet,” he said.
The reappearance of the ethanol motion was not only a chance for councillors elected in October 2014 to affirm their stance, but also a chance for some bigger fish to take notice.
In 2012, Justin Trudeau visited Oshawa to meet with Mayor Henry. The Oshawa Express reported that the majority of that conversation dealt with the ongoing threat of an ethanol plant on Oshawa’s harbour. Henry says Trudeau was onboard with Oshawa’s dissent, and he wasn’t the only one, with Green Party leader Elizabeth May and NDP leader Thomas Mulcair on record as being against the facility.
But now, as prime minister, perhaps Trudeau will take notice once again, Henry says.
The proposed ethanol plant hangs in limbo.
In 2012, the Oshawa Port Authority approved the project that would see FarmTech Energy Corp build the facility on Oshawa’s waterfront. However, to this day, the site remains untouched.
Donna Taylor, the port authority’s president and CEO, says she isn’t surprised by the city’s position.
“It would be more interesting if they were changing their opinion…so it’s not new news, it’s just an update,” she said. She also referred any questions on the facility to FarmTech President Dan O’Connor, but said the Port Authority and FarmTech are currently in a “holding pattern.”
Calls to FarmTech were not returned as of The Express’ press deadline.
According to the company’s website, the ethanol plant, which converts corn into fuel, would bring 50 direct jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs to the community along with $80 million annually to the rural community.