Cornwall Ontario – There are now four petitions asking the Federal Government to stop construction of Chemical Tanks on the Cornwall Ontario Harbourfront.
What we know is that as early as February 2013 Economic Development; most likely Bob Peters, was contacted by parties connected to what would become Trillium Distribution Cornwall Inc.
That the city was notified of a deal on our waterfront in June and that until December naught was done or said with most on our City Council and MP claiming to not have known a peep about the details or deal.
We know that Mayor Bob Kilger straight out lied to the public about his role and knowledge. As a matter of fact our Mayor to date still has not asked the Feds to stop construction of the tanks in spite of a clearly unanimous gathering of over 200 people last Wednesday at the Civic Complex.
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Now to be clear omission of the truth is commonly accepted as a lie. What we have is a city administration and Federal government that are omitting much of the truth.
Apparently City Managers such as Bob Peters, Mark Boileau, Stephen Alexander, and Norm Levac neglected to officially inform council as a whole, but did communicate to the Mayor. The mayor may have communicated to Denis Thibault & Glen Grant, but then the bigger question is why not bring this to council? From the City’s release Friday after the merde had hit the fan on CFN’s transport Canada communication that other media picked up on after.
“The City has NOT received a sketch for the development, let alone a formal site plan, construction schedule, environmental assessment or technical drawings of any nature,” said Bob Kilger, Mayor of Cornwall. “No applications for municipal approvals (building permit, site plan approval, zoning compliance) have been received and no approvals have been given.”
Mr. Kevin Pollard contacted the City’s Economic Development office in February 2013 to determine possible opportunities for securing existing storage tanks, or potentially building his own. Water access was not stated as being essential. At that time he was provided information on a variety of site options, including the Cornwall Business Park, a former industrial site in the west end of the City, and a wharf in the Morrisburg area. He was alerted to the sensitivity of the Harbour Area given the neighbouring residential and recreational uses, the lack of rail, and the lack of adequate trucking routes to Highway 401. Mr. Pollard did not extend dialogue with City officials following this preliminary and exploratory contact.
No further contact was received until June 2013 when Mr. Pollard contacted City officials on a single occasion to inform them that Transport Canada had agreed to enter into a lease. No further discussion or confirmation of the lease was ever received from Trillium or Transport Canada. No specific details, sketch or site plan was provided. The City recommended a meeting to discuss concerns regarding planning and land use issues. City officials did not provide any approval, verbal or otherwise, at any time. Mr. Pollard did not pursue further dialogue with City officials. Notwithstanding this request, the City has never met anyone from Trillium Distribution.
No further contact was received for several months and City officials believed the project was not proceeding. Once construction was noted at the Harbour Area in late November, Mr. Pollard was contacted to determine if this activity was related to his June enquiry. Mr. Pollard confirmed that it was. In early December Mr. Pollard provided some verbal details about the number of tanks, size and expected transportation activity. Mr. Pollard acknowledged that detailed construction plans existed and had requested that Transport Canada release the drawings to the City. The City has not received any plans of any kind from either Trillium or Transport Canada.
Now surely any professional manager would log in any communication and alert say….the CAO or council? As important as Economic Development is having a Chem tank farm across the street from Luxury Condos that were still developing would not be a signal that would warrant silence, but in fact concern that should be brought to the CAO & Council?
Was this communication just by phone or is City Hall omitting more info? If there were no emails why is the city refusing to provide CFN with any emails between itself and Mr. Pollard?
Surely if council was officially aware in June those six months since could’ve been spent lobbying against the project as the public clearly doesn’t want the tanks and many on council, if telling the truth, don’t want the tanks either?
The Federal government spent an awful lot of money clearing the old Kaneb tanks; and offered the harbour lands to the City; but Akwesasne Land Claims impede any sale to any party. But the waterfront plan clearly is not industrial.
And if to reinforce why that is there was a leak of over 640,000 litres of Magnesium Chloride in Oshawa, another tank farm set up fought by a community that was implemented. LINK
The spill occurred just after midnight as the product, which can be used to de-ice roadways, was being taken off a ship. The solution spilled onto the shoreline and into the harbour…
The solution mixed into the harbour’s water supply and cannot be extracted. The harbour opens into Lake Ontario. It was mainly composed of water; the magnesium chloride concentration was 33 per cent.
What would happen with a similar spill in our narrow part of the river? Plant life loss? Habitat loss? Fouled drinking water? This in a community that has spent a generation trying to clean up our section of river that already has huge sediment base issues? Where has the St. Lawrence River Institute in this debate? Where has Environment Canada been? What will a shell company do to repair the damages?
With Councilor Grant, and Mayor Kilger being on the Waterfront Development committee after replacing Councilor Thibault around…..June 2013 how do they not disclose this project officially to the Waterfront Development Committee as well? The may discussed it AFTER the meeting of November 21st, but not with actual Committee members.
How much are politics hampering a coordinated battle to stop construction of these tanks? Again, there are now four petitions. Instead of one large one there are only a few hundred signatures here and there. City Hall is hampering release of clear information. CFN has sent multiple requests for information that have not been responded to.
While Transport Canada outed City Hall for communication they too have now gone silent after Minister Lisa Raitt snubbed Cornwall by not coming to the City meeting Wednesday night even though Ottawa is only about an hour away.
Trillium Distribution Cornwall Inc. contacted Transport Canada in early 2013.The release of the further information that you have requested is not publicly available therefore you are welcome to submit a formal Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) request, under which our records will be reviewed within the parameters of the relevant ATIP legislation. Further questions regarding information exchanged between the tenant and the City of Cornwall should be directed to them.Transport Canada is aware of the City of Cornwall’s news release issued on December 13, 2013. The Public Port of Cornwall is a commercial port facility. Activity currently taking place at this facility is in line with typical commercial port operations.ThanksSilviaSilvia Di TieroTransport Canada, Communications Advisor
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There must be a lot of money in the peddling of street salts for all these crooks to be involved. Freezing? Freezings way too good for them. News Years Eve Wickerman festival with Kilger at the top and musical performance by Switchgear? Naw. Burnings too good for them and who wants to see Switchgear again. Iron Maiden torture with Special guest Graham Greer and the Blais Whining Quartet? Naw, I give up.
Jamie, if you want documents from government use the Access to Information route. Just asking for them won’t get you anywhere.
Hi: Jamie—great article
On December 11, 2013, a motion to immediately stop construction of the illegal chemical storage tanks that are being built on our “IDEAL” waterfront, was carried unanimously at an authorized public meeting.
Representative’s from the entire community have spoken with one clear message, “Stop Now”, and yet the construction continues.
At this point it doesn’t matter who is to blame, we have to work together to stop the construction and break the lease.
Right now, everything we have been fighting for as a community is at stake and we can stay idle no more or, our beautiful waterfront will be “IDEAL, NO MORE”.
Obviously the message is not being heard or maybe we are not being loud enough, either way it’s time for our Council to act decisively and put an end to this craziness.
Liquid Calcium Chloride Storage Tank Situation Summary – Cornwall Waterfront:
All stakeholders and residents of the City of Cornwall and area have a right to know the full impact of what the waterfront storage tanks will have on our community. I’ve been dealing with this and similar products, storage tanks and the outbound freight and handling piece of the process for over 30 years… from the manufacturing side and as distributor and applicator. I’m certain that Trillium Distribution Inc., a division of Pollard Highway Products based in Harrow, ON did not spend much time going over all inbound and outbound transportation activities tied to the two storage tanks when they met and negotiated with Ms. Morris and her team at Transport Canada. With a capacity in excess of 3.5 million liters per tank and strong commercial activity throughout the year, the impact created by heavy tank truck traffic in-out of Cornwall will be excessive to say the least. It’s important to note that these tanks will be supplied via barge and can be re-filled as needed while the Seaway is navigable. During the very busy dust control season ( municipal and commercial gravel roads and surfaces ) we’ll see in excess of 100 tank trucks per week driving in and out of the City Center. The trucks, with a typical capacity of 20,000 to 29,000 liters will begin loading by 5:00 AM daily and will run all day from early May and throughout the summer season! A facility of this size can easily move 15-20 tank trucks per day from May through the end of August! With the use of winter liquid deicers such as Calcium Chloride on the rise, we know that commercial activity tied to this marine terminal will remain brisk year round. As a matter of fact, more than half of the volume pulled from the terminal will be transported and applied in Western Quebec. It doesn’t change the final and overall impact of the project but it does add to the frustration in knowing that Cornwall is “paying the price” for the benefit of a neighbouring province. Notwithstanding the long list of other negative and long-term effects the storage tanks will have on the healthy development of Cornwall’s waterfront, allowing this project to move forward will severely set back and limit the City’s economic and growth opportunities for decades . Residents located in and around the storage site will see damage or full obstruction of their right to Quiet Enjoyment of their homes. I would argue that the same can be said for all residents and businesses along the traffic route used by the constant flow of heavy tank trucks. Users of our well used bicycle path will feel the same way! The unfavourable impact this will have on the environment must also be considered. Additionally, there remains a risk of chemical spills or contamination events while discharging barges, during the containment period, when loading over 1,000 tankers per year and during all outbound transportation of these same tank trucks. The Chamber of Commerce and the Local Waterfront Development Groups have touched on the other strong reasons to stop construction at the existing site and look at alternative locations better suited for this type of heavy commercial activity. Placing the storage tanks on the waterfront and in the middle of Cornwall will forever scar and devalue the City’s strongest and most beautiful asset. It’s an entirely unreasoned and unjustifiable decision and action. I agree wholeheartedly that it must be stopped now! An alternative course of action can certainly be arrived at while preserving the interests of all parties. I’ll be happy to add more facts around the business and logistics part of this issue when requested.
Lastly, if you’re limited to the numbers of words per Article, let’s remove some of what’s already been detailed and print a shorter piece adding more color and facts regarding one of the most critical impacts around the waterfront storage tank issue.
Sincerely,
Louis Denis
Whoever bought condos on that waterfront can kiss their money goodbye. Nobody in their right frame of mind would ever purchase anything even as much as an outhouse. There are deep pockets around this insanity and I can think that it is all part of an “extensive liars club” who don’t give a hoot for anyone but their pockets. We all know who they are and they can’t hide from us. I warned all of you many times that if you don’t boot out Bare Ass and his gang that bad things were going to happen and I was proven to be right all the way. I am patting myself on the back for that one. Those are very dangerous chemicals that they use on the roads and if you look at the condition of the pot holes in the roads and every season the workers are out patching the streets and in some places have to be repaved. Can you imagine what that will do to the ecosystem. I have to agree with Henry Kissinger when he said that “people have no brains at all and only good to be used as canon fodder” and it is true that people have no brains because if they did much better things would happen instead of the evil doings that they all spin. Oh yes people continue to be fleeced and enjoy it and hide your heads in the sand like nothing can be done because it sure can if you use whatever you have left to use. If you do not fight for something in this world then you get nothing. Stand up and fight for what you believe in and stop acting like sheep to be slaughtered.
In polite circles, lying basswoods are said to be “economical with the truth”.
Conc. Gerry Samson, is in deep “doo-doo” folks, with the “moules” around the horse-shoe at Council ! He did the unthinkable to-day, he voted in the “CFN'” petition to stop the construction of the tanks . Poor Conc. Gerry, has been the Mayor’ whipping boy of sorts, since his appointment to Council, when Leslie quit in disgust. The Mayor appeared to relish in embarrassing Gerry, on just about any opportunity.
The next in-camera session Gerry, you better go in expecting the worse. Maybe, your baton & pepper spray from the “good ol days” should be considered ? You just broke ranks with the “moules” (French for mollusks, spineless) & they’ll be out for blood. Not one of the “moules” has yet to sign the petition. This being a huge story, with more angles than my high school geometry set, who knew what, when, incompetence, etc, etc. …..I find it very odd, out of ordinary, that the “moules” are all acting very subdued, calm, collected on this issue ? I would of expected them (moules) to be ranting & raving, jumping up & down, generally losing it, that would show a genuine frustration on this most serious issue ? Are ya following me, people ? Or am I rambling ? lol
But Conc. Gerry, I salute you, I thank-you & please don’t turtle like the rest of them have ! Bravo !
Bebe to be fair councilor Rivette was the first to sign the petition. No other councilor has sadly. I’m sure there are some CFN viewers that will remember that come election time…especially when we write about it 🙂
Very good info Louis Denis, it should be a letter to the editor by its self.
Are the City water intake pipes near here? Accidents happen, what does the Safe Drinking Water Act have to offer about this project?
Eric :
The City’s intake for water comes from the west near Hydro Dam .
Mark
If we stop construction or end the build could we see our taxes levied again for breach of contract, lost revenue, lost wages, and the increased costs of locating to another area?
We have just seen the very same scenario happen with the gas plants in Oakville and Mississauga it costs Ontario tax payers billions because of the Chuck Charlebois in the local communities.
Argue whatever you like about the incompetence of Mc Guilty and company on the gas plants but can the same happen here?
Seems to be a lot of info coming from Mr. Louis Denis. Appears to me that he represents a company handling the “imported from Europe” magnesium chloride liquid distributed from “upstream” Morrisburg. Think there might be a conflict of interest here??? . The products are quite similar in nature except the calcium product has not been banned from the State of Iowa for winter use like magnesium chloride. Don’t understand how Mr. Denis can forecast traffic volumes so good when tenders or sales volumes are unknown. Maybe he’s worried that places like Steeds and Evans and surrounding municipalities might see some lower prices from a domestically sourced product. It would be a shame to see municipalities in Steeds and Evans and other locations benefit on lower cost road maintenance from domestically produced liquids, while at the same time protecting Ontario jobs. Maybe its time for other readers to check out the credibility of those expressing an opinion.
Small typo on last comment–reference to “Steeds and Evans” misprinted should be Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry”
I have noticed well before this hullabaloo happened about the chem tank construction that Bare Ass lashed out at Gerry because he was sticking up for the little people about the high cost of taxes and rent in condos. There must be other things why Bare Ass is miserable with the better councellors and is only good with those who brown nose him. André Rivette is a good man indeed and I have always stated that. The rest are completely and utterly useless. A very good man quit as councellor who was Leslie O’Shaughnessey and nobody with a good and clear conscious want to put up with all the illegal and disgusting activity going on at City Hall. This chem tank being built where there are condos on the river including parks and a threat to the environment shows complete and utter incompetence both by the federal as well as the city. Bare Ass must have pocketed money from the feds in order to keep quiet otherwise this would have been all over the “toilet paper of record SF by their presstitutes” (mainstream/lamestream mockingbird media) and like I said so many times before that when things are done in secret you know that something is mighty wrong indeed. If there was no danger of any sort everything would have been exposed to the public and something stinks to high heaven. It would not be safe anywhere at all because the chemical would seep into the ground and poison the ground water just the same. It isn’t safe at all to be around housing nor parks either.
One other thing that I thought about and forgot to add is the amount of traffic by the trucks going from Cornwall to Gatineau P.Q. (just across the river from me in Ottawa) would add a great deal of danger to motorists on the highways of the 138, 417 and even highway 31 depending on where they are going to go. None of this sounds good at all. Think about it.
The determination to do what is simply right when coupled with common sense is a true test of character. So my opinion of this cities elected officials is that they either lack common sense or character, or perhaps both. Any way you cut it, something is definitely lacking in their abilities otherwise we as a community would not be in the state that we find ourselves.
The least these clowns of ours at city hall could do would be to pass a motion regarding truck access to the site. The Federal property may have direct access to a federal waterway but the municipality still holds rights concerning truck traffic within the city limits. He who hesitates will likely see the opportunity slip away. Legislation is subject to change.
David there was an attempt to create another rally for today that would peacefully block the gates; but lead organizers refused to participate. Personally I think the only way to make a point is to actually make the point.
Minister Raitt not showing up last week and then stating that she would not refer MP Lauzon’s material until after the New Year truly show a disdain disrespect for the people of Cornwall and this riding.
All we want is to improve on the dollars spent cleaning up our waterfront. It makes no sense after spending gd knows how much to clean up the oil tank mess to allow a shell company to build new tanks across the street from one of the biggest luxury condo projects in our city’s history. Not even Conservatives agree with that one.
Mr. Denis has offered an informed opinion, and he resides in the greater Cornwall community.
He along with Mr. Rozon should not be discouraged from offering advice or support to those who want to stop the backward step of constructing an industrial scale storage and shipping facility on our waterfront. Anyone who is not against us is with us… if there is any conflict of interest here, it is among the politicians using this land grab to cash in favours or to cover their arses at our expense.
The immediate concern is not the relatively benign material being handled, it is the re-industrialization of our shoreline, a shoreline that we were a hair’s breadth from restoring.
The other disgrace is our cowardly, obfuscating, crooked politicians; but that will have to wait ’til next fall.
Mr. Editor,
Sincere apology to Conc. Andre, he did indeed sign the CFN petition ! Andre, you & Gerry, should be careful when attending your next closed door meeting. Remember the last one, when the “moules” blind-sided you ? Maybe, get a remote that’s connected to Kilgers panic button ? lol
Hugger1
Surely you jest telling Jamie to file a freedom to information request
Major newspapers seldom do this because its a huge expense..many pages ended up blacked out if they reveal some of the info requested. Just look at the RCMP trying to get documents out of the Conservative party. Even with legal powers the info is hard to come by. There are a few guys I know that specialize in filing Freedom of Information requests for the news media and they say the system drives them NUTS
A young reporter researching a fire in a Toronto apartment building got a bill for $2,000 from Toronto Community Housing
Admin
regarding your comment on Minister Raitt not showing, Do you honestly believe that two tanks installed in Cornwall is at the top of the priority list?
Jamie my eldest sister in law in Lebanon died. She had cancer, diabetes and other things and I had a terrible feeling about this for a couple of days now. Yesterday I was a zombie like person or creature whatever you would want to call me. I went out with my daughter and I didn’t even know where I was and I came home and checked the mail box and left the key in the box with the box open and went upstairs and didn’t realize what I did until after. I told my husband about what happened and that I had a bad feeling and he got word just this morning. I haven’t slept for a few days now. I will try and get some rest soon.
Condolences Jules to you and your family. Take some time to heal. The petty monsters will still be here when you get back or they’ll be replaced by others.
this has nothing to do with Cornwall but rather a small city about the same population of Cornwall.. If you want to delete it go ahead Jamie as it is off topic but it kind of makes me wish we had this lady as our mayor and she thinks she is just doing what she would do what any citizen should do…
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/With+Video+Ch%C3%A2teauguay+mayor+hailed+hero+UPAC+arrests/9277631/story.html
Maybe this is why |I have a strong attachment to this place and this lady..
Great link Jane and that’s been one of the problems. Council is keeping secrets from the public and not fingering people they know to be guilty. THey are not triggering police investigations. Those that run again, and maybe some of those that don’t will have to answer those questions at some point.
We saw when Syd Gardiner tried to rip the protest signs that were then hidden in the mayor’s office for a week that our Police and Crown do not seem to have a stomach for enforcing the law as evenly against those that decide their budgets and career futures as the general public; just as we saw them assist Mayor Kilger having me removed over the t shirt incident.
I cannot provide a link but Mayoress Simon also favors free exchanges with council.. To quote my friend Dan Rosenburg who did the translation for Michel Thibault in Le Soleil de Chateauguay Newspaper..
“Compared to other municipalities, the question period reserved for the public is very unconfined at Chateauguay public council meetings.. Mayoress Nathalie Simon favours these direct exchanges between elected officials and the citizens”..
What happened with those signs would never happen there.. They only have 8 councilors and it is quite relaxed pretty well run ship….There is a time for seriousness and a time that it can be lighter too with a few laughs.. .. it is very sad that here we do not have the same results and I truly think it is the Mayor’s place to set the stage for the council meetings.. Taxes only going up 2% too! and what I found very high I on average taxes of 2400 or so that over $600 of our tax dollar goes for policing…
You do your best Jamie that is all you can do..
Jane I think the most important message in the next election is that each voter has a vote and if they really want to cut taxes or at least stem the growth they need to use that vote. No more Corporate Welfare. No more cronyism and nepotism at city hall. No more hidden meetings sucking up millions of tax dollars while we have hungry and cold people in Cornwall.
We don’t need better politicians. We need better voters who will stop falling for the nicely dressed skeezers!
I agree but look at the petition on here ..not even 300 people signed it .. that is a shame..so if they cannot sign a simple petition online do you really think they are going to get up off their butts and go vote..Re the petition I know a fair number of people in this city whose name is not on that petition..family of mine included… Why? Fear? or prefer to be reactive as opposed to being pro-active and helping get something done or answers at least.. Those tanks should never have happened.. Right under everyone’s noses..
As for the voting the same old will vote but I will be a newbie as I have not been here very long.. Some don’t care the ones who are on SA… Not all on Social Assistance are unconcerned or happy to be on the program..
I also think they need better politicians too! You got Andre who is a pretty fair chap, honest upfront but who else..
Jane just because the clique or whomver doesn’t sign the petition doesn’t mean we all should give up. I’d love if this city could come together. You can’t believe some of the comments I had from people out side of Cornwall over the 100 letter campaign and the mayor actually stating in live council that the city simply posting the link on their facebook page would be a security issue 🙂
No, I’ll stay on the high road and just wait for the gutter to fill with rain.
Jane right now I would not endorse a single current councilor and think that some senior management need to be “retired” because of their roles in helping cover up corruption at City Hall. I also think we need an outside agency like the RCMP to investigate our City elected officials.
That isn’t to say that some of our people aren’t “nice” or I couldn’t be friendly with. I think some were in far over their heads and simply were afraid to speak out.
That being said we elect people to lead us; not follow people like Bob Kilger.
Jamie thank you very much. We are all in a terrible shock and trying to figure out what happened to her to die like what she did. The doctors found three blood clots on her brain and she fell a couple of times. She could not walk, look after herself and when she would talk it was hard to make her out. I haven’t slept for days. Yesterday my daughter had an appointment with the doctor and we cried to the doctor. When we came home I just crawled into bed at 6:30 p.m. and had no energy left in me. My husband is going to go overseas for a short while when my other sister in law makes arrangements with her other brother because there is a settlement of some sort and I don’t want him to go but he has to. His brother in Australia has to go or at least his wife since she has power of attorney from over there. I hope that they meet together after all these years. I am doing my best to do a little reading here but my mind goes blur. Take care Jamie you are the best there is.
I just saw Jane Doe’s video and it makes a lot of sense to get an outside police force into Cornwall to investigate the wrong doings going on like those shisters who are around Bare Ass on a constant basis and the people in Cornwall are paying a heavy price for what they are doing. I keep thinking all the time about that lovely man Pat Finnerty and what he said in a video about many children going to be hungry in Cornwall and how true that is among other things that he said. You cannot get the “Barney Fife PD of Cornwall” involved because they are useless and will not investigate what is going on. Cornwall is so very small like a farm and too many hands paying off each other. I think that Toronto has to come in and not Ottawa. Get as far away from anything in Cornwall. The same thing goes for legal representation get far away from Cornwall and far away from Ottawa. Votes can be bought or even tampered with even with voting by hand – it means nothing. Bare Ass has to be thrown out literally along with his gang and those in business have to be put under control or arrested or both. All this is corruption to the core. Things cannot keep on going and as you see where Jane Doe said about many will not sign the petition over fear of Bare Ass and company and that is a very wrong attitude to take. You do not fear man you only fear God. If people do not sign the petition then nothing gets done. Cornwall acts like a bunch of tyrants who instil fear in people and people have to stop fearing others and stand up for what they believe in. A house divided cannot stand – it will fall apart. It is long overdo that people stop fearing and come together and do something about what is going on. If people give in to fear then they are nothing more than cowards.