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5 · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, October 22, 2009 Lawyer says environmental legislation offers little protection Continued from page 1 noise, vibrations, plume and emissions controls. The Town also wants the Province to examine its environmental legislature, which the Town's outside legal counsel Rodney Northley described as completely inadequate when it comes to protecting people from harmful emissions. "The Environmental Assessment Act (EAA) process that is underway is a self assessment process. Who is the self? It is the proponent, it is TransCanada. A self assessment process means they decide the standards that the assessment will consider," said Northley. "Are there objective standards that are set out under the process? No. Is there a provincial approval at the end of that process that TransCanada must meet? No. Is there an opportunity for a hearing or appeal? No." Northley said the Environmental Protection Act (EPA), which he noted assesses 300 contaminants, but does not regulate the emissions of the toxic substance Particulate Matter 2.5. He said under this act, the air quality of an area is measured, but not regulated and there is no public right to a hearing under this act. The Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) also has holes, Northley noted, in that it is not applicable if the proponent has an EAA process underway. "There we have reality," said Northley. "We have no standards under the EAA, no standards under the EPA and no rights under the EBR." In recommending the Town's course of action for getting the government to close some of these environmental loopholes, Northley advised the Town not to take a `no power plant stance' in their motions. Doing so, he noted, could cause the government to disregard the motions in their entirety. Council agreed, but while the Town's motions may have avoided condemnation of the power plant, this was not the case during the actual meeting with Oakville political figures from every level of government speaking out against the facility. "The TransCanada proposal does not have municipal support. It does not have municipal approval as surely should be clear by now," said Oakville Mayor Rob Burton. Oakville MP Terence Young (through a staff representative) and Halton Region Chair Gary Carr also stated the power plant was wrong for the area, as did Oakville Liberal MPP Kevin Flynn who voiced great distress over the path his government has taken. "I think the proposal before us to site a 900megawatt plant in the area that's being proposed offends any principle of good planning that I have seen in almost 25 years in politics," said Flynn to the applause of the crowd. "The worst possible site was the one that was picked at Ford. I tell you I could not support that, I will not support that. The OPA could not have made a worse decision. The outcome of the process dictates to me that we have a flawed process." Flynn said he has called on the OPA to provide him with full transparency on its selection process. Flynn added if the OPA does not do this within 30 days, he would file a request for the information under the Freedom of Information Act and force them to release the information. "My task from here on in is to convince my government that an agency acting on its behalf has made a tremendous error that needs to be corrected," said Flynn. "I dedicate my next few weeks, months, years, whatever it is, to work alongside you to make sure that the answers you have asked for are the answers you receive and to make sure that this plant will be a bad memory that was never built." Town Council also heard from several members of the public during the meeting including the leader of the newly formed Citizens for Clean Air residents' group Doug MacKenzie. MacKenzie called on the Town to consider additional avenues for stopping the power plant including legal action. "Council should not be left with the impression that just the narrow environmental avenues are available," said MacKenzie. "There are others and we believe this is only a start to moving down this path." MacKenzie said that while his group's mission statement of `no power plant' differs with the better air quality approach the Town is taking, his group would continue to work with the Town regarding the power plant issue. As the power plant is proposed for Ford-owned lands, Oakville resident John Kay suggested a town-wide boycott of all Ford products and services. The mayor said this was not practical. "You're talking about the town's largest employer and largest tax payer," said Burton. "So that's a little like cutting off your nose to spite your face and calling it a gourmet meal." Kay also suggested a boycott of the Liberal Party in Oakville. TransCanada representatives were present throughout the meeting and said afterward they understand the community has concerns and they are attempting to alleviate those concerns. "One of the concerns that we also share is the potential environmental impact of this project. That is why we have volunteered to fully fund a third party expert environmental consultant to act on behalf of the Town to review our potential impact," said Chris Breen, TransCanada. "We have also volunteered to extend the review period, for people such as that, from 30 days to 75 days. We are voluntarily more than doubling the normal amount of time that the ministry would require to review our impact." On the subject of funding the consultant, Burton was not impressed. "At this point I still believe that Oakville can pay its own way," he said. 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