The Fight for Pollution Controls at a Manitoba Wood Products Plant

- by Larry Powell
Battle lines are drawn again between environmentalists, the Government of Manitoba and a subsidiary of an American logging giant over the same issue which flared up in the mid-'90s; the pollution abatement equipment at the wood products plant of Louisiana Part of LP's log inventory.photo by Larry
Pacific Canada Ltd. in the Swan Valley of western Manitoba. That equipment has been shut down since early this year. That's because the provincial government granted "LPs" request to do so, at least temporarily.
The environmental group, "Concerned Citizens of the Valley," fought long and hard when "LP" first opened its plant in 1995, to force it to install the equipment in the first place.
Now, several years later, is that struggle going to prove to have been in vain?
Members of "Concerned Citizens" have regrouped to make sure it will not.
Manitoba has instructed its Clean Environment Commission to hold a "hearing" into the matter in July and recommend whether the controls should remain shut down, permanently.
But "Concerned Citizens" worry the format of the hearing will not really be democratic. While it will hear from expert witnesses, it will not allow members of the public to cross-examine those witnesses.
Meanwhile, the group warns that increased levels of toxic substances have been escaping from the plant since the shutdown, posing unknown health risks to residents of the area.
(See announcement of hearings in post, below.)
l.p.

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