A victory may have been won for the Town of Oakville against the fight to stop the building of the new power station on the Ford plant property. The South West GTA Air Quality Task Force has made a recommendation that no new major pollution source should be allowed in the Oakville-Clarkson Airshed.
The Ministry of the Environment created this task force in September. Since that time it has released 30 recommendations calling for a reduction of vehicular, industrial and residential emissions.
One recommendation calls for the creation of an Airshed Management System that looks into air quality impact on a case-by-case basis.
Why is this important to the fight against the new power plant? It would be mean that the government would not only look at how much pollution the plant would cause to the community, but how much pollution is already there due to other emitters.
The report went on to state that the approval of new emissions should only be granted if there is no new net contribution to existing pollution levels. The report states that no new major pollution sources should be permitted within the already taxed Oakville-Clarkson Airshed unless there is some plan to fully offset key air contaminants. The report also indicated that current emissions were unacceptable.
Oakville MPP Kevin Flynn gave his approval to the report and stated that it was a clear message to TransCanada that its 900-megawatt gas-fired power station was not acceptable in Oakville.
Oakville Mayor Rob Burton also praised the report.
TransCanada also stated they welcomed the report’s findings.
It will be very interesting to see what affect these new recommendations have on stopping this power plant.
Let us know what you think.
