Some in Westsyde concerned about impacts of proposed Tk'emlups biofuel refinery

Worried about refinery plan

Photo: Sc.wenwen Development Corporation

This conceptual drawing shows what a sustainable fuel plant proposed for a plot of land on the Tk'emlups reserve across from Westsyde might look like.

Some people living in Westsyde and Oak Hills say they're concerned about the impacts a large-scale fuel plant proposed for the Tk’emlups reserve might have on their neighbourhoods.

Azure Sustainable Fuels Corp. is partnering with Tk’emlups te Secwepemc and Sc.wenwen Economic Development Corporation on a proposed fuel plant called 7 Mile Renewable Fuels.

The refinery is planned for a parcel of land along the CN Rail tracks south of Rayleigh. It would turn vegetable oils like canola and soybean oil into low-carbon jet fuel or diesel.

Oak Hills resident Kathleen Feschuk said she's concerned that few seem to know about the proposed facility, and says many of her neighbours have a lot of unanswered questions.

“Nobody knows anything about it, and I think that's a shame," she said.

Feschuk said she has concerns about the proximity of the proposed plant to residential neighbourhoods across the North Thompson River, and about the effects of possible noise pollution, water pollution and air pollution.

“We’re in this narrow valley between two hills in Westsyde … we’ve got inversions for three months of the year like crazy, so our air quality isn’t great to begin with,” Feschuk said.

Pollution concerns top list

John Wieczorek, an Oak Hills resident for 33 years, said he also had concerns for the amount of public consultation in Kamloops and was worried about possible impacts of air pollution.

“My wife does suffer form asthma, and any deterioration in the air quality will have an impact on her and many others who have respiratory conditions,” he said.

Among Wieczorek’s concerns are the impacts the facility would have on salmon populations in the Thompson River from water usage and wastewater and noise pollution from increased rail traffic.

Westsyde resident Murray Smith said he was concerned that few people in his neighbourhood seemed to know about the proposed project.

He said he had concerns about potential air pollution and odour from the refinery, as well as added noise. He said he thought the facility would be an eyesore for residents.

“I do think that it's something serious with the city citizens, the taxpayers of Kamloops — even though it's not in the city, they need to know about it,” Smith said.

“There's good and there's bad, and I just believe there's more bad than good.”

Wieczorek said he's not opposed to alternative fuel, but he thinks the 7 Mile location is unreasonable.

“Don't get me wrong, we need some alternative fuel sources. We need some of these things built, but not in the heart of the city,” he said.

“We need to make sure that if they're built, when they're built, where they're built, they're built in a safe manner that's not going to jeopardize the people or the resources that are living opposite them or downstream from them.”

Transparency is the goal

Tana Jones, project Lead with Sc.wenwen Economic Development Corporation, told Castanet community engagement is still being undertaken with Tk’emlups membership, and next steps for engagement will be determined after that.

Azure, Tk’emlups and Sc.wenwen told Kamloops City Council in December they were looking to gauge community support for the project, and engagement efforts would focus on a handful of areas within city limits. Proponents also held an open house in December.

Jones said environmental studies are still being completed but further information that addresses questions asked by the community will be answered on a website that has not yet been launched.

“We’re waiting for various study results to be finalized,” she said. “We’ll be making results public as much as we possibly can and keeping that website updated.”

She said a specific date for the website’s launch is yet to be determined, but she expects it will be up by the end of April. A newsletter to provide updates will also be a part of those efforts.

Jones encouraged anyone with questions about the project to send an email to her office.

“One thing that's key about this project is that the project team from [Sc.wenwen], we're all also residents of this area and we genuinely care about community wellbeing — and we want to be as transparent as we possibly can in this process,” she said.

“We've heard you, we're working on our response to make sure that it captures what we've heard so far, and we will bring that to you as soon as we possibly can.”