Carl Thielemann leans against the fence at his 42-acre farm and breathes in the frosty, misty air that hovers above his rickety old barn.
This South Surrey organic farmer has been working the land for 38 years and has watched as the sprawling metropolis to the north inched its way ever closer to the greenbelt. When he got into farming the area around Campbell Heights was "beautiful and clean" and full of farming families.
Today, most of his friends have sold their ranches and packed up and moved away to the Interior before the city reaches their doorsteps.
"The lifestyle is being robbed from us, and that's what we farm for mainly," says Thielemann. "Once it's gone it's too much stress for us farmers."
As Surrey pushes development ever downward, he says the noise and air pollution is becoming more apparent. And far from preserving the scarce farmland left, Thielemann says the attitude from city hall and "city people" is all about more development.
His current concern is a 62,000-squarefoot hot dip galvanizing factory which is slated to be built on a recently cleared parcel of 100-year-old forest in which more than 400 trees were cut down in the name of progress.
Thielemann says the farmers wanted the trees kept as a buffer between farmland and encroaching developments.
"When we all farmed in this area we never cut it down and farmed it even though it was four feet of topsoil and virgin soil, never farmed. It was ideal for a buffer zone between farming to prevent soil erosion and for a wildlife corridor all the way from 24th (Avenue) all the way down to Cloverdale."
But he's even more concerned about the health of his family and neighbours. Thielemann says the factory could produce emissions and chemical runoff and spills into the watershed that could create serious problems for public health. He's troubled because the factory also sits adjacent to farmland currently in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
Bob Campbell, vice-chair of Surrey's environmental committee, says the parcels were rezoned to light industrial from agriculture in 2012. Zoning documents
from that period state the area would become a technology park with "treepreservation opportunities" in the local area plan designation.
"I wouldn't be convinced that a galvanizing plant would be consistent with that," says Campbell, adding citizens have a valid concern over any emissions that might be produced from such a factory.
"What responsibilities does the City of Surrey have to ensure that the company building the facility will follow that and they are comfortable in recommending this to the citizens?" Campbell says the rezoning application - which went to a public hearing - had nothing to do with a galvanizing plant.
"There's a real issue about the public process and if what was on the sign is not consistent with a galvanizing operation that's going to have some unknown emissions - ideally compliant with Metro Vancouver's regulations - should there not be a public meeting that lets people know?" He says residents deserve to have a public information meeting hosted by the city to explain the monitoring of emissions and how the city aims to follow up if the company isn't compliant.
The fears over pollution aren't necessarily unfounded. In 2012, a steel galvanizing plant on Annacis Island in Delta was fined $52,000 for discharging gasses and fine particles from its hot dip galvanizing operation on Jan. 7 and 8, 2010. Metro Vancouver, which monitors air quality control, investigated after a nearby business reported clouds coming from the factory.
Silver City Galvanizing reportedly spent $294,000 to bring their operation up to code and obtain the proper permitting from Metro.
"I know that. And we were complaining about it, too," says Hugo Eppich, president
of Ebco Metal Finishing, the company behind the Campbell Heights proposal.
Eppich says his company has operated a plant in Richmond since 2000 without any issues at all. They utilize a closed-loop system, which means nothing is discharged into the sewers and all water is filtered and recycled. The acids used in the galvanizing process are reused and the only emissions that escape is water vapour.
Ebco makes use of scrubbers to clean any emissions and Eppich says the concept of factory air pollution is from "the olden days."
"When you operate these days, you cannot get away with being a polluter or just don't care about the environment. You have to conform. And of course it's not just that but the people who work here."
Eppich says their Surrey plant will conform to strict emission standards and noted the project was also reviewed by the Little Campbell Watershed Society, who were satisfied no wastewater would be discharged by the operation except what could be expected from their washrooms and lunchroom.
"Whenever there's anything to do with chemistry people freak out, you know? And if you understand chemistry there is nothing to freak out because it's much less of a problem than you riding a bike."
Coun. Bruce Hayne says he recently became aware of the issue when he found out there were fliers being circulated in Campbell Heights with his name and phone number on them.
"[Thielemann] has a concern that the residents weren't consulted, firstly, that there was going to be a galvanizing facility there," says Hayne. "And secondly that something like that would trigger an environmental process."
But Hayne says the rezoning went through a public hearing process in 2012 and no objections were raised. At the time there were no sales of the parcels or tenants, so the city set a list of permitted uses.
Light-industrial designation means that the proposed factory can't produce any offensive smoke, noises or smells, vibrations, toxic fumes or electrical interference. In July, Ebco put forward a development permit application with a variance for outdoor storage. Since the application was part of a permitted zoning use, it was passed by council without a public hearing.
"In this case the facility complies with the definition of light industrial," says Hayne. "If they don't comply... then that would be then in violation of the light industrial usage and that would trigger a number of things with bylaws."
Surrey could then deny the business a license to operate. But Thielemann says at that point it would too late - once farmland is paved over, it can never be reclaimed.
"Like the old saying goes, if you don't care about the land, you don't care about its people."
amacnair@thenownewspaper.com