PelhamToday received the following letter to the editor from reader Tim J. Nohara regarding efforts to reduce and/or prevent the release of cannabis odour at Redecan’s facility on Foss Road.
With spring upon us and outdoor activities on the rise again, I thought I would bring you up to date with the Town’s effort to pressure Redecan to honour its commitment to residents by following through with the establishment of the Redecan Community Liaison Committee (CLC).
The Redecan CLC is intended to reduce and/or prevent the release of cannabis odour at Redecan’s Foss Road facility when substantiated odour complaints from residents exceed limits as determined by the Town’s odour expert, Phil Girard, P.Eng, in accordance with an odour protocol defined in the Minutes of Settlement (MOS) between Redecan and the Town.
The MOS provides the terms of reference for the Redecan CLC; and the first step in its creation is the provision by Redecan of specific cannabis odour engineering documents which will allow Mr. Girard (and the Town) to understand the present cannabis odour levels generated in the facility and odour release mitigation systems in place at there to limit the amount of cannabis odour pollution released into the surrounding neighbourhoods.
This technical understanding then allows additional odour release mitigations to be agreed upon in advance so that when a substantiated odour complaint threshold is met, immediate action can be taken by Redecan to reduce odour emissions to acceptable levels.
As I reported to you three months ago, the Town’s cannabis lawyers, Aird and Berlis, obtained an order from the Ontario Land Tribunal providing a deadline of May 30, 2024, for the specified odour engineering documents to be received to the satisfaction of the Town and Mr. Girard.
Redecan must provide their documents by April 30 allowing until May 15 for Mr. Girard to confirm their adequacy or to request additional information if they are inadequate, and then allowing until May 30 for Redecan to submit their final documents to satisfy Pelham’s concerns.
Let us hope that Redecan finally follows through in good faith as they agreed to in the MOS almost two years ago, taking an active part in improving the air quality in the community around their 182 Foss Rd. facility for the benefit of all.
I will strive to keep you informed here as the Pelham Cannabis Regulations developed by the former Cannabis Control Committee work their way to full implementation in our Town.
Tim J. Nohara
Fenwick
