Get involved

Dear editor:
Residents of Emo had better stop sitting on their hands and get involved to prevent the building of an abattoir in the town limits.
I made a phone call to Winkler Meats in Manitoba and asked the owner what his thoughts were of locating an abattoir in the town limits. He replied, “I wouldn’t even consider it.”
He also said when you slaughter, it’s going to smell!
He asked why they would want to locate in town and I responded because they said it’s cheaper to locate near water, sewer, electrical, and the lagoon. I guess the homeowners in Emo don’t count about what their quality of life will be living in a town with a smell of slaughter in their homes.
Just think on a hot day when you open your windows and that smell gets into your couches, bedding, and curtains. But guess what! It’s cheaper for the abattoir to locate in town.
This man in Winkler has operated an abattoir there since the 1960s and knows what he’s talking about.
I can visualize shopping at our grocery store in Emo and smelling slaughter from a westerly breeze filling my nostrils. Think about it. It’s only about 200 metres away.
This is not going to be an environmentally-friendly slaughterhouse. It is a play on words. Don’t be fooled.
Read the official plan for Emo:- “to protect and maintain the quality of life”—not to destroy it.
The MoE guidelines for potential influence area (i.e., areas within which adverse affects may be experienced) for a Class II industry is 300 metres. The MoE has identified this as a Class I industry—not to mention an abattoir!
The EPA recommends a minimum distance of 500 metres for an abattoir from an environmentally-sensitive area—let alone a whole town.
Municipal official plans and zoning bylaws restrict areas where certain activities are allowed to take place (for example, you cannot build an industrial factory in a residential neighbourhood). How did this land get zoned as industrial?
I attended a municipal meeting in Emo on Feb. 12 and the MoE representative gave information on how much water is required per animal at slaughter. He said 200 litres per animal.
Well guess what? The next day I contacted Toronto and the amount per animal at slaughter is 1,700 litres per animal. So 200 litres times 20 cattle per day is 4,000 litres of water used per day, but the real number is 1,700 litres times 20 cattle per day is 34,000 litres of water per day.
That’s 8.5 times the amount of water required.
He also was asked by a concerned citizen if they could guarantee that there would be no smell, and he replied he could not guarantee that!
So you townspeople who are just sitting there and don’t care, you’d better start caring or let’s not hear you complain about it after it’s too late.
This facility most likely will be operated five-seven days a week. Think about it—you don’t spend $1.2 million to operate two days per week.
I normally don’t get involved in local issues but common sense tells me that to locate a slaughterhouse in town is not going to be in the town’s best interest.
You know what to do and you know who you are, so get off your hands and do it.
I certainly respect the farmers and the work that is done at a slaughterhouse because I like to shop for my steaks and pork at a grocery, too.
I respect the effort that is being put forth by the Rainy River District Abattoir Inc. to accomplish having an abattoir in the area.
What I don’t accept is where they want to locate it—in a residential neighbourhood!
Sincerely,
Vincent W. Sheppard
Emo, Ont.