Vol. 6, Issue 33
Free of Charge
New fuel plant to rise in the Valley
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Thursday, August 22, 2019
Phrag hunter
TROY SHANTZ THE JOURNAL
B.C. firm has selected Sarnia’s chemical valley as the site of a planned $1.5 billion USD ($1.9 billion CDN) fuel plant, according to the company’s president. “Some time ago, we selected Sarnia as the best place for us to look at building our first plant,” Michael Ainsworth of Ainsworth Energy Co. LTD. told The Journal. “There’s just so much infrastructure there in Sarnia; it’s a wonderful place to be looking at doing our first project. “It would be pretty hard to replicate that anywhere else in Canada.” Seventy acres (28.3 hectares) of land at Sarnia’s TransAlta site has already been approved for longterm occupancy for the project, according to a report provided to the City of Sarnia. Project funding and site plans are being finalized, said Ainsworth, adding that the two-year construction of the 15,000 barrel-per-day facility could begin as early as next year. The plant will produce low-sulphur, high-octane fuel and provide dozens of permanent fulltime jobs, Ainsworth added. Environmental permits are being sought for the facility to be located at 1475 Vidal Street South, and Aamjiwnaang First Nation and Walpole Island First Nation have been consulted along the way, he said. Ainsworth Energy has already invested about $8 million in planning at the site according to a report by Peter Hungerford, a consultant on the project and the city’s former director of economic development and corporate planning. Continued on 3
WITH TRUSTY HOE in hand, Hal Regnier patrols Sarnia’s Point Lands on the lookout for new eruptions of phragmites. TROY SHANTZ The Journal
Sarnian winning battle against phrags
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TROY SHANTZ THE JOURNAL
ou can find Sarnia’s very own ‘Phrag Fighter’ each week at the Point Lands, hoe in hand. For the past two years Hal Regnier has made it his oneman mission to protect one beautiful piece of city parkland from phragmites, a choking reed so aggressive it’s regard-
ed as Canada’s worst invasive species. And he’s winning. The Point Lands today are almost free of mature phrag, though during a recent visit Regnier was quick to point out young shoots coming up again. “Are they going to wear me down before I wear them down?” he asked, while chopping at roots. “Who knows, but I do think I’m making a difference.”
Regnier was walking dogs for the nearby Humane Society when he was alarmed to see the western side of Sarnia Bay overrun with phrag. He went to municipal officials and struck a deal. City Hall would loan some hip-waders and he would fight back, at no cost to taxpayers. Phragmites grows in wetlands and along shorelines. Since its arrival here it has vigorously choked out cattails and
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the wildlife that depend on them. It reaches heights of five metres (15 feet) and produces a toxin lethal to surrounding plant life. “Hal does a great service for us,” said Patti Ross, Sarnia’s manager of parks, forestry and horticulture. “He checks in regularly with updates on his phrag work. We’re very appreciative of Hal.”
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