Richibucto residents unhappy about controversial Coastal Shell plant operating licence renewal

On Tuesday, the provincial government renewed the operating licence for the controversial Coastal Shell shell drying plant in Richibucto.

The plant has caused an uproar from residents because of the foul odour it creates throughout the community when it operates at night.

“It’s heartbreaking, it’s breathtaking, it’s harrowing, it’s terrifying. Another year of living as prisoners in our own homes, in our own community,” Kent Clean Air Action Committee spokesperson Maisie Rae McNaughton said on Tuesday.

McNaughton has previously described the smell as being like “burning, rotting shells with burning wires.”

The renewal comes with conditions, including an obligation for Coastal Shell to install emission-controlling technology by November, as well as odour-controlling technology by next July.

McNaughton said the money being invested into the technology would be better spent relocating the plant altogether.

“Another year of it affecting our mental health, our physical health, our economic health, our tourism industry,” McNaughton said.

“My family and friends don’t even want to come visit me anymore because they’re scared of what they might be breathing in and yet we’re subjected to that every single night.”

Crystal Desharnais, who owns Crystal’s Emporium, a thrift and furniture store in Richibucto, said morale in the community is low.

She said tourists spending time in nearby Kouchibouguac National Park sometimes come into the store to get a break from the smell at night.

“The tourist traffic has definitely decreased as this problem has increased,” she said.

She said some customers have told her they aren’t coming to the store because the smell is so bad they don’t want to leave their cars in the parking lot.

She also wants to see the plant relocated.

In a statement sent to Global News on Tuesday, Coastal Shell management said they want to work toward a “harmonious solution” but they “are not interested in spending time with groups whose only goal is to shut our plant down and put all of our 26 local employees out of work while leaving the seafood processing facility without a solution for their shell by-products.”

McNaughton said the community feels the provincial government isn’t taking their concerns seriously.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Gary Crossman told Global News in an emailed statement that he understands there are concerns in the community, but he feels the department has “acted to ensure the problems are addressed” by placing the conditions on the renewal.

“The department will continue to monitor odours from the company’s facility through frequent site visits and odour surveys,” the statement read.