The biggest bat at Regional Council has come out swinging against the CN plan to build a truck-rail hub in Milton.

News 100 redBy Staff

August 13th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Regional Chair Gary Carr is pulling out all the stops.

He has sent an email to every name in his Rolodex.

His effort on this one is the equivalent of an election campaign.

The issue is the 400 acre rail-truck hub that CN Rail wants to build in Milton.

Gary Carr as a goal tender.

CN Rail is going to have to get by this guy: Gary Carr, Regional Chair when he was a goal tender.

Carr had this to say:

As you may know, CN is proposing to build a 400 acre truck-rail hub in the Town of Milton. As part of the Federal Review process, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada is in the final stages of public consultation regarding their environmental assessment of CN’s proposed truck-rail hub and I am writing to you today to ask you to take action to have your voice heard on this issue. The Agency is accepting comments from the public on the potential environmental assessment conditions for the project until August 21. I am encouraging everyone who lives or works in Halton to learn more about the proposal and to take action to make sure the Federal Government knows where you stand on this issue.

Here are the facts:

• The proposed site is immediately adjacent to existing and planned residential areas. Approximately 34,000 current and future residents, twelve schools, two long-term care homes and one hospital are located within one kilometer of the site.

• The proposed hub will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and result in 1,600 truck trips to and from the site each day. These truck routes will lead to more traffic on our roads and traffic will continue to increase as the site’s capacity grows. This congestion poses a risk to the safety of motorists, cyclists, pedestrians and families in the area.

CN site

CN has not said what it wants to do with the 800 acres that are not part of the application.

• The proposed facility is contrary to Halton’s planning strategy developed over 20 years ago—planning that is irreversible at this stage.

• Through their review, the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada determined that CN’s proposed truck-rail hub in Milton is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects on air quality and human health.

• The Panel identified six potentially significantly adverse effects on human and environmental health as well as a risk for at least 16 additional potentially adverse effects, including the impact of noise on residential communities.

• This is not business as usual—the impacts to air quality and human health are unprecedented and put Halton residents at risk.

CN trucks

1600 trucks a day are projected to come in and out of the transfer point – 7 days a week.

The Halton Municipalities have been advocating to the Federal Government to refuse approval of CN’s proposed truck-rail hub in Milton since 2015. My position and that of the Halton Mayors who stand with me is that this project should not go forward given the Panel’s findings of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment. If the Federal Government approves this project, they are sending a message that the health and safety of Halton residents is worth risking.

Voicing our concerns
We are concerned that this is only the start—CN has not disclosed their plans for the other 800 acres of their 1,200 acres of land in Milton, and potential expansion in the future would increase the effects on health, traffic, safety and the environment. We call on the Federal Government to do the right thing and refuse approval of CN’s proposal.
To continue our advocacy efforts against this proposed truck-rail hub, we’ve created a video that highlights the many impacts to our community and those who live here.

CN houses

Milton has hundreds of homes in the immediate area – their health and welfare is said to be at risk.

Make your voice heard
Now is the time to act so you can voice your opinion before the Minister announces a decision by September 23. To make your voice heard, you can:

• call or email your Member of Parliament and tell them that the health of your families and neighbours matter;

• submit your comments directly to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada by using the link on halton.ca/cn;

• sign the online petition posted by Milton Says No and Milton R.A.I.L. and join others in your community in the fight against CN’s proposal by August 16; and

• be a part of the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #sayNO2CNhub and following @RegionofHalton.

For more information about CN’s proposal and the Halton Municipalities’ position on this project, please visit halton.ca/cn. Together we can do what’s right for our community and ensure that Halton remains a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire.

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4 comments to The biggest bat at Regional Council has come out swinging against the CN plan to build a truck-rail hub in Milton.

  • Luke McEachern

    Planners and councils from the last 30 years are responsible for this but most importantly the citizens who idly slept while they returned the same councillor because, “They seem like they work hard”.

  • It was a huge issue in the last 2018 election campaigns. Unfortunately, no-one got Carr’s views as he failed to show at all scheduled debates. So it’s good that he is now addressing this matter.

  • carol martin

    Please make sure you bring audiologists and other hearing related specialists into this consultation – the constant noise might have an impact on local inhabitants as well as stress levels – what recourse do people have for themselves and for children if deemed noise and related excess fuel fumes have negative impact.