OCI Long Pond plan still begs questions: group
Ocean Choice International (OCI) has already revised its plans for a cold storage facility in Long Pond Harbour but a group of local citizens still has concerns and questions about the development and the decision-making process.
Advocates for the Responsible Development of Long Pond said in a Friday news release they feel the revised plan still requires a full environmental assessment by the province.
When OCI submitted its original plan in 2018, the province’s environment department said a full assessment was not required because the project covers less than five hectares and it’s not located within an estuary.
The advocates believe it is an estuary.
“By any definition an estuary is a place where fresh water meets salt water,” Pierre Gauvreau said.
That is the case for both basins that make up Long Pond Harbour, he said.
Gauvreau lives on the shore of the northerly basin and from his window he sees eagles flying daily. Both basins are home to many creatures, including seabirds, otters, eels and fish.
The federal environment minister determined earlier this year the project did not require study under the Impact Assessment Act because Fisheries and Oceans Canada was assessing the project for impacts to fish habitat under the Fisheries Act, and Transport Canada had already granted approval under the Navigable Waters Act.
The Advocates group say they are not “anti-development” but they do believe there are alternatives to infilling Long Pond Harbour.
They wonder why OCI would not consider building the facility completely on land.
According to Gauvreau, there is land available on the shore — and some local landowners who would be willing to sell to OCI — to accommodate the cold storage facility.
Gauvreau said OCI’S plans would have been much more palatable for the group if they did not include creating a man-made peninsula in the harbour.
Blaine Sullivan says the acreage simply wasn’t available in the Terminal Road area of Long Pond Harbour to accommodate the building.
Besides, he said, the company would still have to build a wharf and dredge part of the harbour to allow for safe passage of the vessels.
Other critics of the project have also questioned whether the company could not have used another location, or even expanded its cold storage property at South Dildo.
And some have wondered whether the South Dildo building will be abandoned if the Long Pond Harbour build goes ahead.
Sullivan said South Dildo is currently used mainly for storing bait, and as a “overflow” storage for frozen fish landed by the offshore fleet.
There are many other reasons why South Dildo would not have been suitable for their plans, he said.
“It’s a rough port in winter and there’s not enough land there (to expand),” he said. It’s also too far away from other businesses, and the workforce.
“We looked at other places, like St. John’s,” said Sullivan, “but it’s hard to find that much acreage by the ocean with a deep-water port.”
More details about OCI’S Long Pond Harbour proposal, including a question and answer document featuring commentary from local citizens, is available on-line at: https://oceanchoice.com/ longpond/
The Advocates group has hired lawyer Jeff Budden to explore legal options.
Gauvreau said support for the challenge has grown.
“The group now has about 1,300 to 1,400 people, most of them local residents, who are angry.”
He adds the group is not saying OCI should not build a cold storage business at Long Pond Harbour.
They do want to ensure, however, that before the harbour is filled with rocks to build a plot of land, other options are explored, a full environmental assessment is completed, and decision-making is made transparent.
“We’re all relatively intelligent people and we understand the value of having business here. But we’re not willing to just give away Conception Bay South.
“We don’t want to take the jewel of C.B.S. — the harbour — and fill it with rocks to put a large freezer there.”