To the editor,
I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposed tank farm that North Arm Transportation intends to establish on our downtown waterfront at the old Omega site.
Since I first learned about the tank farm, I have dedicated significant time to informing the community and exploring options to relocate it to a safer location. I am also part of a group known as Concerned Citizens of Masset that has been working towards the goal. We have circulated a petition with 370 signatures from individuals who, like us, believe there are viable alternatives and do not want the tank farm downtown.
Why are we building homes in our designated industrial park and turning our waterfront into an industrial park instead? It also doesn’t make sense that Suncor has been removing and replacing contaminated soil on a lot in front of Home Hardware for the last three weeks. The lot once held a tank farm, and the clean-up costs from fuel contamination have been into the millions.
The North Arm fuel-tank farm project involves up to 26 fuel tanks storing diesel fuel, jet fuel and fuel used for other sources. The tank farm’s anticipated total capacity is 2 million litres.
The increased need for more capacity is driven by North Arm’s interest in becoming the sole provider for all the fuel volume required to run the BC Hydro generators. North Arm sought out this contract to increase their profits.
I asked the North Arm president how many more jobs the proposed project would add to our community; the reply was one, maybe two.
In the North Arm presentation to the community, they admitted that the Omega site was initially considered unsuitable. North Arm president Matt Stradiotti explained that it was not appropriate because of its proximity to residents and businesses.
At this time, North Arm maintains a Crown lease at the Rivtow site. When questioned about moving the tank farm there, the North Arm president said it was not viable because of the cost associated with its development. In another conversation with Mr. Stradiotti, he described how the development of this site’s costs could only be justified if Haida Gwaii’s population were far more significant and there was a higher demand for fuel.
Concerned Citizens of Masset has also suggested another potential site, Lot 65, the OMVC reserve land located south of Masset. North Arm and OMVC have a joint-venture business relationship. There have been negotiations, but North Arm again expressed that the slow timing of those conversations and increased costs made them return to the Omega site, which they initially deemed unsuitable.
Many people here have expressed concern for their safety. The Village of Masset hired an engineering firm named Northwest Hydraulic Consultants to assess the waterfront in our area, including the Omega site.
I have the report and the location where the old Omega plant is designated a red zone for tsunami potential and erosion susceptibility. The red zone is the highest risk. Our town just built a tsunami tower at a cost of millions beside the high school and blocks away from the waterfront.
Environmental safety is another concern in the immediate area. The inlet is a food harvesting area and a direct flow to our Nature Centre, where whales, eagles, and recently endangered otters thrive. We cannot deal with fuel loss in our waterways. The eight-knot current in the inlet would make it nearly impossible to contain.
The Village of Masset adopted a community plan in 2017 called the Integrated Official Community Plan (IOCP). The plan speaks to sustainable development, which means “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
The people of Masset are asking for affordable housing, indoor recreation, and daycare. Yes, this town needs diesel, but does it require a two million-litre fuel storage facility on one of the last lots left on the waterfront in the middle of town?
I am disappointed that no one from the village council, our mayor, or North Arm consulted with or informed the public of a tank farm plan on our downtown waterfront.
This directly insults the Haida Gwaii Clean Energy Declaration signed by hundreds in 2017. Our citizens should have a vote or a referendum.
When I inquired why there wasn’t one, I was told by the Village of Masset that since the area is zoned “industrial commercial,” the village council didn’t have to.
Didn’t have to, didn’t want to, or didn’t care?
Jody Grange,
Masset