Comment period extended to Feb. 6

OSHAWA — The opportunity for the public to comment on an ethanol plant application from FarmTech Energy has been extended to Feb. 6.

Just before Christmas, the company planning to build an ethanol plant at the Oshawa port resumed its efforts, only days after Oshawa council voted in favour of a landmark deal that could see the city’s waterfront redeveloped.

FarmTech Energy filed an application with the Province, seeking approval to discharge materials into the natural environment. The company’s first application, which drew 103 public comments, was withdrawn this fall.

FarmTech spokesman Bernie Morton said it needed to be “repackaged,” but opponents speculated it had more to do with the potential for a federal election.

The re-tooled application appeared on the Province’s environmental registry on Dec. 22 and originally included a 30-day comment period that closed Jan. 21. That has now been extended to a 45-day period closing Feb. 6. Comments can be submitted in writing or online.

The application seeks permission to allow “emissions to the atmosphere include particulate matter, products of combustion such as carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds such as ethanol, acetaldehyde, acrolein and benzene, odour and noise,” according to an excerpt from the Province’s environmental registry.

In 2008, FarmTech applied to the City to re-zone a piece of land at the Oshawa waterfront to allow a 12-hectare, $185-million plant that converts corn into ethanol.

The proposed site is at the Oshawa port behind Gifford Hill and adjacent to McAsphalt Industries, and is owned by the Oshawa Harbour Commission. It is up to Oshawa council to approve an official plan amendment and a rezoning, before anything can be built.