Rutland Herald

Water use decision in Canada is victory for OMYA

February 16, 2003
By BRUCE EDWARDS Herald Staff

OMYA’s Canadian operation won a major victory Friday when Ontario’s minister of the environment granted the company’s request to withdraw more than 1 million gallons of water a day so the company can expand its calcium carbonate operation in Perth.

The long-awaited decision by Ontario Environment Minister Chris Stockwell overturned a decision issued a year ago by the provincial Environmental Review Tribunal that restricted OMYA’s water taking from the small Tay River to 390,000 gallons a day. The decision grants the company’s its full request of 1.2 million gallons a day.

Stockwell’s decision was a blow to local residents and environmental groups who had spent three years objecting to OMYA’s water-taking plans, arguing that withdrawing such a large amount of water from the small river could affect drinking water supplies and fish habitat.

OMYA, a Swiss multinational company and the world’s largest producer of calcium carbonate, argued that it needed the river water to meet increased demand for its product. The company has been relying on well water to run its plant.

Water is mixed with finely ground marble to produce a slurry that is used in thousands of products from antacid tablets and cereal to paint and paper.

The company’s North American headquarters are located in Proctor.

In his decision, Stockwell concluded that OMYA’s water withdrawal “will not cause harm to the Tay River watershed.”

The decision was a defeat for opponents like Michael Cassidy, who owns a second home near OMYA’s quarry.

“I’m deeply disappointed,” Cassidy said Sunday. “I think it’s a bad decision.”

But Cassidy also said he thinks the decision is bad for OMYA as well because of the adverse publicity and bad feelings the issue has generated for the company.

“They’re operating in a rural county with a major operation and I think it’s in their long-term interest to collaborate with the Lanark community, rather than be in confrontation with it,” Cassidy said.

In August 2000, OMYA was granted a two-phase, 10-year permit that allowed an initial withdrawal of 390,000 gallons of water a day. Following additional monitoring, after three years the withdrawal would increase to 1.2 million gallons a day.

However, several parties asked for permission to appeal the permit citing the lack of adequate studies. In a victory for opponents, the Environmental Review Tribunal last February limited the withdrawal to 390,000 gallons a day and also limited the permit to six years. If the company wanted to increase its withdrawal, OMYA would have to apply for a new permit, the ERT said in its decision.

Following the decision, OMYA appealed on two fronts: filing a court appeal and also asking the environment minister to intercede on its behalf. In what Canadian legal experts call a rarely used power, Stockwell agreed to consider OMYA’s appeal before the court had an opportunity to consider the case.

The company also began an intensive lobbying effort.

Olivier Chatillon, the head of OMYA’s Canadian operations, wrote to the Ontario premier last year with a veiled threat that he would advise foreign investors against doing business in Ontario unless the company was granted its permit.

“The two-year saga over our water permit has placed me in an extremely awkward situation. When asked the very important questions about red tape and regulatory burden, it is hard not to reflect on the fact that after two years, and although no provincial, federal or independent study has ever recommended against our project, it remains stalemated awaiting a government go-ahead,” Chatillon wrote.

In an interview last month, Chatillon denied that the company was twisting arms, but was simply exercising its rights.

He said should OMYA receive a favorable ruling from Stockwell, the company would drop its court appeal.

Cassidy, who called Stockwell’s decision confusing, said he’s unsure whether opponents have any avenue of appeal. He said opponents will confer with their legal counsel today on a possible course of action.

Another opponent, Carol Dillon, said the decision left her disillusioned.

“It was an opportunity for the minister to rise up and do the right thing and he didn’t do it, but it was not totally unexpected,” Dillon said. “In the end, it was our own government who let us down.”

She said the Conservative provincial government, which she characterized as pro business, failed to fulfill its promise to insure the use of water by making a decision behind closed doors with no citizen participation.

At the same time, she said the ministerial decision wasn’t all bad. She said OMYA must now make its water-taking records public, hire an outside consultant to oversee the water taking, and hold a public meeting annually.

OMYA is also required to demonstrate a need for the water before additional withdrawals are made. But Dillon said that decision will be a bureaucratic one without public input on a critical public issue.

OMYA officials could not be reached Sunday for comment.

Contact Bruce Edwards at bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com