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Councillors in Chelsea, Que., have given approval to build a sewage treatment plant near Mill Road, but residents upset with the decision vow to fight the plan.
In a decision made Monday in a closed-door meeting, council approved building the plant on land owned by Hydro Quebec. Town officials say the treatment plant is needed to meet the future development demands of Chelsea.
Many Mill Road residents who had hoped to see studies justifying the decision left the meeting frustrated.
“We are just floored by the council’s intransigence in this matter,” said Mill Road resident Aden Seaton. “They just cannot show us their pieces of paper. We don’t think they exist.”
Council said a report explaining the location of the plant will be made public later this week.
Katharina Mercure, who lives on Mill Road with her three young children, said the construction of a sewage plant in an area where a trail to the river currently exists would lower property values for residents. It would also change the character of the neighbourhood, she said.
“We walk down there all the time,” said Mercure. “It’s on our way to [the market], it’s on our way to school, so it’s kind of sad.”
Sandra Garbutt has lived on Mill Road for nearly five decades. She said she fears the treatment plant could spark larger developments in the area.
“It’s heartbreaking, you know, but it wouldn’t do any good to cry,” said Garbutt. “We’re going to have to step back, talk about it and see, but it’s not over. We’re not going to sit down and let them do this.”
Farrellton sewage plant
Chelsea is not the only western Quebec municipality dealing with controversy over sewage treatment plant.s Just north of Chelsea in the municipality of La Pêche, residents are angry over plans to build a sewage plant on the Gatineau River at one of two sites near Farrellton, Que.
MRC des Collines made plans to build the plant to treat sewage trucked in from tanks across the Pontiac region after Gatineau’s treatment plant stopped accepting it last year.
Residents in Wakefield and other communities on the river and south of the proposed sites are concerned about the technology proposed for the plant, and say it will release more effluent than the river can handle.
Friends of the Gatineau, Ottawa Riverkeeper and community groups had gathered to protest the plans on Saturday in Wakefield.
A public meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at École Secondaire des Lacs in Masham, Que.
Full story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/story/2011/03/15/ottawa-chelsea-sewage.html
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