A third-party independent review has given Cantimber Biotech 11 recommendations to consider before they can start up operations on Port Alberni’s harbour waterfront again. The Port Alberni Port Authority intends to make other recommendations part of a revised operating permit.
Port Alberni’s municipal leaders should take the Cantimber saga as a warning and a guideline for future industry on the city’s waterfront. We are more than a year into the process and Cantimber has yet to fully operate—they announced in the summer of 2015 they were bringing an activated charcoal plant to port authority lands. Since then, Cantimber has been forced to undergo independent testing due to numerous complaints from the public about airborne particulates from what operations they have managed.
The city has built up above the harbour, with residential areas overlooking industrial areas, and more care needs to be taken about what industry happens below.
Cantimber brings with it the promise of a couple of dozen jobs, and its owners also relocated to our city. We hope the recommendation from the Golder and Associates report, once implemented, will be mutually beneficial to residents and company owners at once.
We find it unfortunate, however, that the community as a whole has been subjected to the testing phase.