Northern Ethanol eyeing Sarnia for plant

MP says he blocked subsidies to stop Barrie plan; Liberal hopeful disagrees

Posted By BOB BRUTON

Updated 6 hours ago

Northern Ethanol is heading south

Rick Jones, Barrie’s federal Liberal candidate, says he was informed

Thursday by company officials that NE is no longer interested in building a

plant in the city.

“The reasons are, they’d prefer to go to a community (Sarnia) that is more

suitable,” said Jones. “I think everybody had a role (in convincing NE not

to locate in Barrie) - the community, council and we (the Liberals) had a

role.”

Barrie city council has imposed an interim control bylaw on ethanol

production on all of its industrial lands, and has taken steps to change its

Official Plan and zoning bylaw to restrict an ethanol facility.

“We have been stopped by the city, by it not going ahead with our site plan

and the ICBL (interim control bylaw,” said Natalie Horrell of Northern

Ethanol on Friday. “So we are focusing on our Sarnia operation. We have

received over-whelming support there, from the community and local

businesses.”

She said NE lawyers are reviewing Barrie city council’s actions.

“We feel this has been done for improper purposes,” Horrell said.

Jones says he helped convince NE to take a pass on Barrie during recent

discussions.

“I have expressed our views that Northern Ethanol is not the ‘right’

project for Barrie and that in their interests, Barrie is not the ‘right’

fit for Northern Ethanol,” he said.

“Based on these conversations with Northern Ethanol and the continued

concerns from Barrie residents, Northern Ethanol will be announcing today

(Friday) that they will be terminating their plans for an ethanol plant in

Barrie and focusing on projects in other communities.”

Northern Ethanol officials did not immediately return phone calls or an

e-mail from The Barrie Examiner.

NE had plans to build a plant on the former Molson Brewery lands to produce

more than 400 million litres of ethanol annually, making it one of Canada’s

largest facilities.

Barrie MP Patrick Brown, who says he blocked federal subsidies to Northern

Ethanol, said Friday morning he hadn’t heard about its decision not to come

here.

“Northern Ethanol doesn’t talk to me. They have been working to defeat me.

So the last person to hear from Northern Ethanol will be me,” he said.

“I hope it is true. It would save the city legal costs from fighting them

at OMB (Ontario Municipal Board).”

Coun. John Brassard also said it’s good news for the city.

“There is no doubt that the overwhelming public concern about placing an

ethanol plant in the heart of our city really caused this council and me

personally to pause and think about its impact on our community,” he said.

“We didn’t have to look far (Collingwood) to know that people and ethanol

plants just don’t mix. These type of facilities are best suited in rural

areas and away from sensitive land uses, and Sarnia by all accounts is the

better alternative in my opinion.”

Collingwood Ethanol has been given a draft order by Ontario’s Environment

Ministry (MOE) instructing it to deal with the plant’s odour and noise

complaints, or face a shutdown. Issued Oct. 6, it gives the company

City residents voiced concerns about safety, smell, noise, traffic and

pollution related to the NE’s proposed ethanol plant.

Brassard said he was disappointed about the potential loss of jobs and tax

revenue that would have been generated by Northern Ethanol.

“But I’m certain those lands have a far greater potential to attract more

jobs and quality employers given the proximity and visibility of the 400

highway,” he said.

Brown says he contacted Energy and Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn in

the summer of 2007 about Northern Ethanol.

“I wrote, called and met with him to explain this (NE) was not to get a

single cent of federal dollars,” Brown said. “The Collingwood plant is in

operation because of their subsidies.

“This is not an election time decision. This was done a full year ago,” he

said. “Provincial and federal subsidies are what allow plants to exist and

make a profit.”

Brown also praised city council’s tactics.

“Northern Ethanol is essentially dead because of council’s actions, but

also because they have zero prospect of federal subsidies,” he said.

But Jones says Brown’s claim that he blocked federal subsidies to NE

doesn’t hold water.

“There was no block. The applications (by NE) were never in,” said Jones.

“It’s impossible for an MP to do that.

“It’s a bureaucratic decision. An MP doesn’t just waltz in and do that. I

don’t think Mr. Brown had a role. He’s taking credit for action not taken.”

Natalie Horrell of Northern Ethanol was asked Thursday about federal

funding and said NE has an application into the ecoENERGY for biofuels

program.

“Due to pending litigation issues, and at the present time, the (Barrie)

issue is unlikely to be resolved in time to meet the deadlines laid out by

the ecoENERGY for biofuels program,” she said. “We respectfully requested

that our Sarnia application be reviewed first.”

Park Place developer North American had filed an application in the

Ontario Superior Court for a permanent injunction to prohibit NE from

producing ethanol there. That application was scheduled to be heard in court

Friday, but Horrell said the court date had been cancelled.

NE requires a certificate of approval for emissions from Ontario’s

Environment Ministry to operate a plant in Barrie. NE has appealed city

council’s inaction on its site plan to the Ontario Municipal Board, although

no hearing date was set.

Last November council passed an interim control bylaw to prohibit ethanol

production on Barrie’s industrial lands, including NE’s intended site, for

one year. A related study to research the public’s concerns about producing

ethanol in an urban area, and whether it’s an allowed use, resulted in the

new measures that could lead to changes in Barrie’s Official Plan and zoning

bylaw.

This could include not permitting ethanol facilities within 1,000 metres,

or one kilometre, of any sensitive lands uses such as residential areas,

schools, hospitals or churches. That separation distance is based on

Ministry of Environment (MOE) guidelines.

Another change is that ethanol would be added to the city’s list of noxious

products, which are only allowed in the city’s restricted industrial zones.

Jim Taylor, Barrie’s planning director, has said NE would need site

specific changes to the city’s OP and zoning bylaw to permit an ethanol

facility on the old beer plant site.