The NRCB decision on the HAZCO sulphur terminal near Bruderheim

July 29, 2009 by Walter Schneider.

Just a couple of minutes ago, a television reporter, accompanied by a camera man, showed up at our door and wanted to interview me regarding yesterday’s NRCB decision in favour of HAZCO’s application for the construction of a sulphur processing and shipping facility just 3 km east of Bruderheim and 6 km NE from the Town of Lamont.

By the way, the Edmonton Journal article on the NRCB decision (Jul. 29, 2009, bottom of page B3) gave incorrect distances to Bruderheim (2 km) and Lamont (10 km) from the HAZCO sulphur facility, but that reflects no more than the shoddy journalism that we have become accustomed to on this issue over the years.

Shoddy journalism is not necessarily the only reason why I refused to be interviewed on camera, but the CBC reporter was obviously inadequately informed to be able to perform an interview.  I explained that I had been working quite hard over the years on the HAZCO sulphur issue, that it appears that for all intents and purposes the Friends of Lamont County had given a fair and accurate presentation of the evidence at the NRCB hearing in April, and that on the balance of the evidence the decision should have gone against the HAZCO application.  However, now the decision has been made, and the development will most likely go forward.

There is nothing more I wish to do on the issue.   One heart attack is enough for me.

Aside from that, the CBC reporter was ill prepared to conduct an objective and informed interview.  She knew virtually nothing about the issues at stake and had obviously not made much of an effort to educate herself.  I did not ask her whether she had read the NRCB decision, but it appeared that she had not read it nor that she ever heard of or looked for the website in support of the Friends of Lamont County, at http://www.folc.ca. Nor did she even ask who I was or what my involvement in the discussion over the years had been.  Even though I gave her a number of leads that should have been part of an in-depth interview, it seemed that she was looking for nothing more than an opinion survey spiced up with sound bites.

I did tell her that I was not opposed to a sulphur processing and shipping facility, provided that it would be located a minimum of ten to 15 miles away from populated areas or population centres.  She did not ask what I base my preference on.  That illustrated to me that she did not have a clue as to how critical the distance of such a sulphur facility from residential properties is, and how much of a risk the facility poses to Bruderheim and area.

If you are a concerned resident of Lamont County, you may wish to refresh your memory on that.  Check the following links:

• Proposed Waste-Sulphur-Storage and -Handling Facility
• Environmental Impact of SulphurHealth-Impact of Sulphur
• Sulphur Poisoning
• Sulphur Fires

When the NRCB decision on the HAZCO sulphur facility will now be approved by the provincial cabinet, it will be nothing more than one of the first steps that will lead to a general exodus of residents, such as that which has been in progress in Strathcona County and led to the depopulation of the Industrial Heartland there over an interval of about 30 years.

Instead of promoting the thriving of rural life in the County of Lamont, the imposition of the creation of the Lamont-County portion of the Alberta Industrial Heartland and the licensing of oil-industry-waste processing facilities such as the construction and operation of the HAZCO sulphur facility will be the death of rural life and agricultural industry in the vicinity of Bruderheim.

Bruderheim and surroundings will gradually come to be seen no longer as an oasis in the vicinity of the petrochemical industrial area of Alberta (the largest such area in the world) but will come to be seen as being threatened by being at the centre of waste-processing facilities associated with Alberta’s petrochemical industry.

The only thing to do that is left to me and the members of my family is to make sure not ever to cast our votes for any party or political entities who made that happen.

Let’s hope that, when the music stops and the dance is over, there will be enough money to repair the damages.  It appears that the NRCB decision will not make certain of that.

Posted in Town of Bruderheim, Community & Industry, Hazco | Print | 2 Comments »