As Richibucto residents fight to 'stop the stink' forever, shellfish plant tries to grow
Despite hundreds of complaints in recent years, Coastal Shell denies releasing 'offensive smells'
With Coastal Shell Products' approval to operate up for renewal next week, many residents of Richibucto wonder what it will take to shut down the plant that's been stinking up the New Brunswick community for years.
Since 2017, residents have filed hundreds of complaints, held protests, signed petitions, talked to politicians, and launched seven separate lawsuits against the company and its four owners.
Yet, aside from brief reprieves from temporary shutdowns, the company continues to operate.
"It's like shouting into the abyss," said Maisie Rae McNaughton, founder of the "stop the stink" campaign in Beaurivage — the governing entity that includes Richibucto — and a member of the Kent clean air action committee.
"The people of our community cannot understand why our cries have not been taken seriously. This is not a small handful of people affected," said McNaughton.
But as residents continue their fight to shut down the plant, the company is trying to expand. In fact, they want to double the size of their operations, according to documents obtained by McNaughton's group.
A plan to eliminate odour
In them, the company said it would like to expand operations "within the Atlantic provinces by providing waste disposal to processing plants that are not already being serviced."
To do that, the company says it would have to operate around the clock and not be constrained by the conditions of its current approval to operate, which limits operations to between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
The company acknowledged that it would have to solve the odour problem in order for that to happen. It says it has a plan for that.
The company's general manager said they've been working with a Vancouver-based company called InProHeat and have two solutions. One would result in the "total destruction of the Volatile Organic Compounds that create the odours," and the other would eliminate odours coming from the delivery of the raw shell products.
The total cost of both is more than $2 million, of which Coastal Shell Products would pay 25 per cent. According to the report, the other 75 per cent would come from government funding and they list ACOA, the Department of Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fisheries, and Opportunities New Brunswick.
There is no confirmation in the report that the funding has been approved. CBC News contacted all three groups on Tuesday and asked if Coastal Shell Products had applied for funding. ONB and ACOA have responded.
Spokesperson Michel LeBlanc said ONB "has not received a direct funding ask or formal application" from Coastal Shell Products.
"ONB has not provided any financial assistance to Coastal Shell Products and has no active funding agreement with the company," LeBlanc wrote in an emailed response.
Similarly, a spokesperson for ACOA said the agency "has no project with Coastal Shell Products."
McNaughton said she is concerned about the company's plans for expansion, but is hopeful that the government branches named by the company are sufficiently aware of "the risk involved in such an investment" and won't agree to funding.
Coastal Shell Products has been in operation in Richibucto since 2016.
Formerly known as Omera Shells, the company describes itself on its website as a "crustacean shell drying facility." The plant heats and dries old lobster and snow-crab shells and shrimp skins that are then ground into a powder that's used for fertilizer and animal feed.
In the documents obtained last week, the company makes reference to the "only discernable negative impact" of the plant is the odour. But it only acknowledges "a few" concerns raised by neighbours.
Rotting lobsters and burnt wires
McNaughton said people have become quite good over the years at describing the smell produced when the plant is in operation. It's been described as smelling like a pile of rotting seafood that's been set on fire, and like rotting lobsters mixed with burnt wires.
For months, the company has not responded to requests for interviews.
Company founder and part-owner Omer Gaudet, reached on his personal phone last Wednesday, indicated he would be available for an interview on Friday, but several calls and messages left on Friday and Monday have gone unanswered and unreturned.
In a statement of defence filed in March in response to a lawsuit against the company and its owners, the company denies all accusations against it, including releasing any "noxious or offensive smells."
With the company's approval to operate set to expire at the end of the month, McNaughton hopes the Department of Environment "will do the right thing" and not renew the document.
On Friday, department spokesperson Vicky Lutes said a new approval has not yet been issued.
McNaughton said her group will continue to make its position heard until the province makes its decision known. So far, she said, she's received "radio silence" from all of government officials she's contacted.
"What is it going to take to have this nightmare end?" she wondered. "Am I going to have to lose a friend, neighbour, or family member before our cries are heard?"
Hundreds of complaints
After getting the results of a request for information from the province, McNaughton said she's now worried about the mental health of people in her community who have been living with the stink for years.
The 659-page document lists hundreds of complaints since 2017, including 455 complaints between mid-April and mid-June alone, said McNaughton.
Residents say they can't go outside and enjoy their own properties. They describe how the smell even permeates inside their homes so they cannot escape it. Some have been forced to leave their homes when the smell is really bad, and children at a school located on the same street as the plant have been kept inside on bad days.
McNaughton said her heart breaks for the person whose complaint is listed on page 526. The woman said she feels "like taking her life" when the plant operates, according to the official who took the woman's phone call on May 3. The RCMP were notified about that call and were asked to do a wellness check.
On June 1, a resident sent an email to complain, "It's 35 degrees out and we can't even put our air conditioning on because the smell comes in the house. For the love of god, something has to be done!"
As far back as 2017, residents were worried the smell may be harmful to their health.
By 2019, one resident said it was bordering on "the edge of what is criminal and what is neglect. We have residents who have letters from their physicians stating the plant poses a health threat. With years to resolve the plant issues we have seen little in way of investment to improve the air quality."
In August 2019, someone wrote, "We had tourists from Quebec leave our area due to the smell last evening. I guess the six jobs are more important than an entire industry."
Promised jobs never materialized
In a government announcement in 2016, the company, then called Omera Shells before it relaunched as Coastal Shell Products, said it would create up to 74 jobs, but those never materialized.
At the time, Opportunities NB said it was contributing $2.9 million in the form of a $440,000 payroll rebate and $2.5 million in term loans.
The company report obtained by the Kent clean air group reveals that there are only six permanent staff, although more are hired temporarily during the drying season.
The package of information released by the province includes an internal email between government officials that revealed concerns for École Soleil Levant, the school on the same street as the plant.
T"And some teachers are strongly considering calling their union over this issue," the message said, "I think the recurrence of this issue and the impact on the school warrant returning the plant to [its] pre fall 2021 operating window. It would seem that it is a matter of time before the school is forced to close over this problem."
Another resident wrote, "We cannot keep living like this. This is madness and a direct attack on human rights."
In a June 1 email to government officials, including Premier Blaine Higgs and Environment Minister Gary Crossman, a resident said it's time to shut down the plant.
"The stigma the community is now receiving from this poorly planned infrastructural nightmare has and will continue to affect community growth, property values and the mental health of those who have to live with it," the resident wrote.
Another complained that they were unable to sell their house because of the smell.
Another complainant said, "It's about time the environment does something about this or else Richibucto is going to be a ghost town."
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