On August 1, I wrote to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to share the concerns that residents have raised with me about the odours related to the Nitta plant, and to make it clear that we expect continued monitoring and enforcement at the site.
A recent notice placed on the environmental registry has raised concerns for me that the government may be seeking to scale back this monitoring. For context, you can see the notice here:
https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-0042
In part, it states:
“With consideration of Ontario’s Open for Business Plan and the guiding principles of the Made-in-Ontario Environment Plan (Clear Rules and Strong Enforcement, Trust and Transparency, and Resilient Communities and Local Solutions), the ministry is undertaking a review focused on modernizing compliance practices related to incident response.
Incompatible land uses may result in nuisance types of impacts on those who reside close to industrial or commercial facilities. Nuisance impacts include those that may result in or have the potential to cause, minor or localized loss of enjoyment of property or minor or localized interference with the normal conduct of business.”
I am calling on the Minister to commit to continued monitoring of the Nitta plant and enforcement of the law.
Representatives from Nitta have confirmed with my office that they are proposing additional capital improvements to further mitigate odours, and will be submitting the proposal to the Ministry for review. We have asked them to continue to communicate with area residents about their work and any other issues that will impact odour levels.