Dear Editor,
Richmond residents who attended last week’s public meeting (Nov. 9) with Harvest Power’s CEO were left with a feeling of little hope for the elimination of air contaminants produced by this company.
The company, once again, as it has done for the past five years, limited itself to repeating the same promises of technical improvements that, according to their “hypotheses,” will free us from the odour grip we are in, while the authorities, whose role is to protect the health of the residents, gave us a sense of having their hands being tied.
Last evening revealed a classic example of governance paralysis:
Harvest Power is offering promises, while at the same time, are appealing the permit with strong arguments;
The control of Harvest Power’s pollution is up to three levels of government, with no clear effective enforcement policies;
The Metro Vancouver district director informed the residents that the enforcement of the permit can take months, if not years, and that the practical aspects of the application of the permit give them no real chance of acting;
Our mayor also talked about the city’s inability to do anything about the regulation or about representing the constituents in addressing the situation and rejected the idea of requesting the shut down of the facility.
At the end of the day, the community is standing on its own to protect the health of the residents, abandoned, without representation of the regulating authorities. The community’s only hope is that by continuing to apply public pressure, a solution will be found.
If it is, it will be only by the voices of the community alone.
Carlos Alfaro
Richmond
