Clean Air Day Balloon Launch in Barrie

Barrie Citizens Release 418 Balloons On National Clean Air Day To Protest Highly Controversial Ethanol Refinery

Barrie, June 6, 2007 – To mark National Clean Air Day and in a demonstration of their opposition to an ethanol refinery being located in the middle of their city, Citizens Against Refining Ethanol in Barrie will today release 418 biodegradable balloons into the air to signify the 418 tons of pollutants that would be emitted each year if the Ontario Ministry of the Environment approves the controversial chemical plant.

“The people of Barrie need to understand that they still have time to fight this and let the government know that the middle of the city is definitely the wrong location for Canada’s largest ethanol refinery,” said Warren Patterson, the owner of Botanix Garden Centre. “We have reviewed their submission to the Ministry of the Environment and what is under consideration is giving this start-up company approval to dump 418 tons of pollutants in the air of this community,” he said.

Concerned citizens have formed a group called Citizens Against Refining Ethanol in Barrie (CARE in Barrie) to help inform local residents and decision makers that the proposal to locate a 400 million litre ethanol refinery in the middle of a growing city of almost 130,000 makes no sense. “These facilities are classified chemical plants and there are reasons why almost all of the 120 or so of these refineries in North America have located in sparsely populated areas,” said local REALTOR^® Carl Rabinowitz. “As you look at the 418 balloons floating into the sky you begin to get a sense of how enormous this issue is for the future of Barrie,” he said.

All that stands in the way of 418 tons of pollutants being released into the community, thousands of rail cars shunting through an old spur line in a residential area and thousands more trucks delivering corn, gasoline and ethanol is approvals by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and the City of Barrie. “The people of Barrie need to let the government know that tearing down the old brewery and replacing it with a chemical plant to employ 40 or 50 people on prime real estate in the middle of our city is an outdated economic development strategy from decades ago,” said Sonya Anderson, a local resident and mother of two. “This is the fastest growing city in Ontario, and this refinery could impact the quality of life experienced by tens of thousands of local residents well into the future. This is the wrong location,” said Anderson.

For further information, please visit www.CAREinBarrie.com or call 705-309-2273 (CARE).

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