Explanation for raid sought from minister
Published Saturday November 22nd, 2008
Industry Pulp mill surprised by 'excessive and aggressive' action by Environment Canada officers
SAINT JOHN - The president of J.D. Irving, Limited has asked federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice why about 35 Environment Canada enforcement officers converged on his west side pulp mill on Wednesday and used what has been characterized as "excessive and aggressive force" to execute search warrants.
Jim Irving sent Prentice a letter on Wednesday, said Mark Mosher, vice-president of J.D. Irving, Limited's pulp and paper group.
As of Friday afternoon, no response had been received, Mosher said.
When contacted, Environment Canada's communications department said someone would return a reporter's calls for an interview on Friday afternoon, but no interview was granted.
"We want to know why such excessive force was used," Mosher said, while acknowledging that Environment Canada was within its rights to conduct the search.
The officers, some of whom were armed, arrived at the main gatehouse at 7:30 a.m. and descended quickly on the mill's offices in search of documentation relating to a green liquor spill that happened more than a year ago. Green liquor is a mild alkaline solution similar to household bleach. It is a chemical byproduct of the pulp-making process.
Within minutes, the officers had secured and fanned out through the business office, corralling people into lunch and conference rooms, Mosher said.
They sealed doors and filing cabinets shut and made sure people were off their computers.
Environment Canada even brought in officers from Quebec and Ontario because there weren't enough personnel in Halifax, Mosher said.
A diabetic employee, who needed to go back to his briefcase to get medicine, was initially told 'no,' but eventually, "they got some big, burly guy to usher him back and watch him as he retrieved his insulin pump," Mosher said.
He and others at the mill are at a loss to understand why the raid was necessary. The officers also visited the company's head office on Union Street.
"It's the magnitude (of the incident," Mosher said.
"Based on the positive interaction we've had with the Department of the Environment over the years, we're just very surprised that they went to this level with no warning.
"We weren't trying to withhold information. We complied with everything they asked us for. There was no information outstanding that we had not responded to. We had not denied them anything."
The officers stayed at the mill about 12 hours, going through any documentation that provided information about the green liquor spill; everything from drawings and files to computer systems, payroll records and personnel files.
When they left, they took a "significant" amount of electronic data, hard copy paper files and log books, Mosher said.
"I told the manager, 'You could have just called and asked, we would have just given you the information,' " Mosher said.
"The response was, 'We believed this was the only option we had.' "
Office staff lost a day of work during the search, Mosher said, but production was not interrupted.
Wednesday's raid by Environment Canada was made as a result of a spill on Oct. 31, 2007 as the mill was starting up new $45-million lime kiln technology.
In the process of converting from the old technology to the new, there was an accidental release because a valve had not been closed tightly and 675,0000 litres of green liquor escaped over a seven-hour period.
The mill's monitoring equipment picked up the spill immediately, Mosher said, and the Coast Guard was called right away.
At the same time, mill workers tried to find the source via computer and by walking the system.
"Because we were going from an old piece of equipment to a new piece of equipment, there's a huge amount of valves and pipes and that's just how long it took," Mosher said.
"The irony of this incident is that we were starting up a piece of equipment that has huge benefits to the local air and watersheds," he said.
The Coast Guard was called again later that evening on the day of the spill, after the problem had been corrected, Mosher said, and a was report sent to both the provincial and federal environment departments the next morning.
Seven days later, the mill followed up with a detailed report to both departments.
"That is our typical process," Mosher said. "We complied with all of that."
Then, in February, the mill received a request from the federal Environment Department asking for followup information, which was sent, Mosher said.
"That's the last we heard of this," he said, until Wednesday.
"I've been with the pulp and paper group for 22 years and they have never arrived with search warrants before."
Deputy Mayor Stephen Chase also doesn't know what to make of Environment Canada's tactic.
"It was alarming to me because the implications are that there was something untoward," Chase said.
"Every indication I have received in my tenure as a councillor and deputy mayor is that JDI has always been a good corporate citizen.
"I think JDI tries to be good stewards of the environment and create a healthy business environment. They're a cornerstone in our local economy.
"It's disconcerting."
Up until Wednesday, Mosher said he had no idea where the investigation into the green liquor spill stood or whether the company would be charged.
"We expected they would want some follow-up information or they would come and talk about the incident," Mosher said. As he understands it, the spill caused no environmental impact.
"We did not see any impact, we were not told of any impact," Mosher said. "It was over a year after the incident and they show up with firearms and flak jackets."
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As for the firearms...I suspect they didn't have their weapons drawn, they are just part of some peoples uniform, and I think this issue is being milked by the PR people. I know the Irvings think they should be treated differently than others, but it is good to see that they are not.
As well there is a contradiction in the story as printed:
" there was an accidental release because a valve had not been closed tightly and 675,0000 litres of green liquor escaped over a seven-hour period."
And then next paragraph
"The mill's monitoring equipment picked up the spill immediately"
Seven hours is immediately? and no one noticed 675,000 litres of green ooze that shouldn't have been there.
It sure smells like a cover up to me....Good job EC!