Aamjiwnaang First Nation is asking to receive environmental fines paid by Sarnia-area industries because of the impact on its residents.
Aamjiwnaang First Nation is asking to receive environmental fines paid by Sarnia-area industries because of the impact on its residents.
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Those fines currently go to Lambton County which operates the Sarnia provincial offenses court where environmental charges against industries in the Sarnia area are typically heard.
The First Nation sits just south of Sarnia in an area of the community known locally as Chemical Valley because of the concentration of refineries and chemical plants.
“It’s far too frequent that Aamjiwnaang residents have to accept noise, odor, vibration, harmful chemical exposure and light pollution as well as other impacts,” Aamjiwnaang Chief Janelle Nahmabin said in a letter to the county.
She referred to a 2021 incident that led recently to Imperial Oil being fined $900,000 plus a $225,000 victim overcharge after pleading guilty to a charge under the Environmental Protection Act for a discharge of “slop oil” at its Sarnia site.
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“We are the ones directly impacted, as well as south Sarnia residents in this situation,” Nahmabin’s letter said.
She said the First Nation also remains under a state of emergency it declared earlier this year following elevated readings of benzene at air monitoring stations.
Ineos Styrolution, the operator of a chemical manufacturing site next to Aamjiwnaang that used benzene to make styrene monomer, halted production this year and said it plans to close the site next year.
“The current allocation of environmental fines in Chemical Valley is not helpful to us and we do plan to advocate for change in that,” Nahmabin said.
“We could certainly use the funds to improve our environmental-health departments’ capacity to address cumulative impacts,” she said.
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Sarnia Coun. Bill Dennis said during Wednesday’s meeting, “a relationship is a two-way street” and he accused the First Nations’ leadership of being “very, very anti-Chemical Valley.”
When Marriott interrupted and said, “Coun. Dennis, Coun. Dennis,” Dennis said, “Warden Marriott, I’m just being honest and upfront. I’m just saying it the way it is.”
County council voted Wednesday to receive and file the letter without taking further action but Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley called for county officials, as well as any local mayors who wish to, to offer to meet with First Nation representatives.
“I think, given the nature of the relationship, that we should at least meet and talk, and discuss this further,” he said.
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Bradley referred to a land acknowledgment read aloud at the beginning of council meetings and said, “I learned a long time ago those can be hollow words unless you put them into action.”
Similar discussions about the fine revenue in the past involved “impacted communities,” Bradley said. “It could be the First Nation, it could be St. Clair (Township), it could be Sarnia, it could be anyone.”
“Under advisement, we’ll consider meeting with them,” Warden Kevin Marriott said.
Following the meeting, Marriott said he expected to speak with Bradley and senior county staff about the possibility of meeting with Aamjiwnaang.
Marriott said the county has, in recent years, been working more closely with First Nations in the area.
“The lines of communication are much more open than they used to be,” he said.
According to the county’s 2024 budget, provincial offenses court fine revenue, which has totalled about $2 million annually depending on fines issued locally, is used to pay the cost of operating the local court, grant funds to help member municipalities with policing costs and Sarnia with the cost of providing court security.
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