One recent, curious discovery is that Mike Wilson, former CEO of Atlantic Industries (as of April 2022) and director of Right Coast Realty (which applied for the building permit for the new AIL plastic pipe manufacturing plant in Sackville) and Eric Tusz-King both appear to be directors of RENEWCO-OP corporation. RENEWCO-OP was mentioned in the history of Eos Eco-Energy. Eric Tusz-King is also on the Climate Change Advisory Committee (CCAC). EOS Eco-Energy currently also partially funds the full time climate change coordinator position with the Town.
On this Government of Canada site the RENEWCO-OP corporation still appears to be active.
You would think that a manufacturing process that involves or could involve the following concerns should be relevant to an environmentally focused group :
- it required the clear cutting of roughly 18 acres of forest during the migratory bird season
- it produces chemical effluent that requires on-site storage and for it to be trucked off site for treatment
- it heats up plastic HDPE pellets that in some possible scenarios have released C02, SOX, NOX, Methane and VOCs. MIT did a study on the emissions from the plastics manufacturing industry. These are similar emissions found in the coal industry.
- it is situated near the Town reservoir
- it is situated on permeable soil which is above an aquifer that feeds Silver Lake and nearby residents on drilled wells
- it requires pumping of septic waste from the septic tank into a layer above the permeable soil (due to the risk of penetration into the underlying aquifer)
- it will use an unknown amount of water for use in the manufacturing process and for staff during a time when resident well water levels can be low during dry summer season
The Town was able to express their concerns for other similar issues such as banning seismic surveys (required for fracking) in Sackville, passing a by-law to prohibit drive thrus (due to idling cars) which affect a local proposed Robin’s Donuts and Dairy Queen (and the jobs they would have created).
So the question remains: Why isn’t the Climate Change Advisory Committee seemingly concerned about the AIL plastics manufacturing plant? Many Sackville citizens are wondering why the environmental concerns were ignored even after being brought to the Town council’s attention by citizens and local journalists. On December 19, 2022 I asked Brittany Cormier, the new Climate Change Coordinator, a variety of questions and she said she would get back to me in the new year.
Related to this question and for further investigation is whether we are going to require declarations of conflicts of interest and disclosures of relationships for various decisions that are made by the Town or related groups.
This is a developing story so check back for updates. And if you have any other specific information on this topic, feel free to let us know on our Facebook page.