Memo warns against hazardous-waste project
FREDERICTON(CP) - New Brunswick will put
itself in a vulnerable position
by allowing Bennett
Environmental to operate a
hazardous waste treatment
facility says an internal government memo.
The memo,obtained under
the Right to Information Act
by a northern New Brunswick
environmental group,
was written by Simone Godin.
Godin is, a hazardous-waste
officer with the Department of Environment
and Local Government.
Last September, Godin
wrote to high-ranking environment
officials saying that
the province's ability to turn
down other requests to import
hazardous waste could
be jeopardized if Bennett's
project in Belledune, N.B.,
were to proceed.
"The precedent of allowing
such a project to go
ahead could make us very
vulnerable, as it would be
next to impossible to stop
any other hazardous waste
management company from
coming to N.B. to process
waste," Godin said in the six-
page brief.
Godin cites international
deals, such as the North
American Free Trade Agreement,
that could curtail the
province's ability to decline
other such requests.
She also questions why
Bennett Environmental wants
to place a treatment facility in
the province.
"Since we have no specific
hazardous-waste regulation
in New Brunswick, we
are particularly vulnerable
and should be suspicious of
the motivation that is bringing
this company to our province," Godin wrote.
Premier Bernard Lord's
Tory government has given
Bennett approval to construct
the facility. The company still
has to acquire approval to operate
before it can begin importing
toxic soil laden with
creosote and hydrocarbons.
Environment Minister Brenda
Fowlie said the company
has scaled down the amount
of waste that would be coming
to the Belledune area on
an annual basis.
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