Connie Agnew, who is senior planning ecologist with LGL Ltd. Environmental Research Associates.
HEATHER BOA Bullet News GODERICH – An industrial expansion at Goderich’s harbour should take into account a culture of fishing and recreation that has developed along the Lake Huron shoreline, a town resident told organizers of a public meeting on the Goderich Harbour wharf expansion last night.
“Maybe you were misinformed about the culture and heritage we’ve enjoyed on the lake and the harbour,” said Goderich resident Mike Alcock, who questioned a statement in the slide presentation that investigations showed cultural heritage resources would not be impacted. He said the culture and heritage enjoyed by residents and visitors has been impacted over the past decade as a result of changes at the harbour.
He said the proposed harbour infills outlined in the expansion plan were an opportunity to create access points with enhanced fish habitats on the west side of the industrial area where traffic would not cause safety concerns.
However, a consultant from LGL Ltd. Environmental Research Associates said recreation does not fall into the province’s definitions of heritage and cultural impacts that need to be considered in the environmental assessment.
“I’m not discounting it. I’m just saying when we say there are no impacts, we use the definitions provided,” said Grant Kauffman, who is a senior planning ecologist.
He said the changes to the harbour over the years discount it from the province’s definition of built heritage resources and cultural heritage landscapes.
Last night’s public meeting was the third in a series of meetings as part of the environmental assessment into the impacts of creating additional space for loading and unloading ships, and storage space for salt and other commodities. The EA is being conducted by Goderich Port Management Corporation on behalf of the Town of Goderich. GPMC was established in 1999 when the town bought the port from the federal government. The not-for-profit corporation of port users operates the port on behalf of the town, relying on user fees to manage day-to-day operations.
“One thing we don’t have say over is public access. The Town has the final say on these areas,” said Al Hamilton, who is president of GPMC.
The $47-million harbour improvement project relies on funding from GPMC, the provincial government and Compass Minerals.
Along the way, three designs for the harbour were considered, settling on what’s referred to as a twin-slip option, side-by-side slips for two boats with the docks on either side.
After nearly a year of studying the potential impacts on fish, wildlife and assessing archaeology, air quality, noise, traffic and cultural resources, it’s expected the EA will be submitted to the Minister of the Environment by December 2012.
Other concerns raised during the public meeting included safety at the intersection of Hwy. 21 and Saltford Road as trucks gather speed to get up the hill driving northbound, opportunity for public involvement in mitigation measures for fish habitat, inclusion of First Nations and Metis in consultation, and improved relations between community and port users.
2 Comments on "Harbour wharf expansion EA expected to be complete by December"
Well it is important for Goderich to be a Lake port of substance it appears to me and in the dialogue that I have had with a long time friend who sits at the top of the Totem of First Nations that First Nations while having been consulted have never been made comfortable as part of the process of the Harbour Expansion. Even the mayor said at one time of recent that a ‘pow wow’ was to take place. Yes, that statement is on record!! The lake bed is owned by First Nations. So why does the Town of Goderich and the Port Harbour Authority believe that they have the right to destroy the lake bed that is owned by First Nations?
Regarding the North Harbour Road to HWY 21, if this harbour expansion is allowed to take place then of course many commodities will be shipped in including dolomite from giant the La Farge quarry on the west end of Manitoulin Island . All this dolomite is for asphalt production and of course now The Miller Group owns most of the asphalt production in Ontario. So we will have trucks coming up the North Harbour Road year around 24 hours every day. So what provisions are being made to make the Hwy. 21 connection more user friendly?
And the fisher people ! Why are they being excluded from the opportunity to fish the Maitland at its mouth.? BIG business and small time and big time Government are never always right!
In my opinion people come first and big business and Government of all size come last . signed John Hazlitt
Thanks for the comment, good to see others are taking notice of what is going on down there.