Nov 04, 2008 - 09:59 AM

By Jillian Follert

OSHAWA -- The group dedicated to protecting Oshawa's Second Marsh is bringing in the big guns in its fight against a proposed waterfront ethanol plant.

Friends of the Second Marsh has retained the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) as counsel to help it fend off efforts by FarmTech Energy to build a 12-hectare, $185-million plant at the Oshawa port.

CELA is a non-profit group that uses existing laws to protect the environment and to advocate for environmental law reforms. The group has worked on several high-profile issues, including the Walkerton inquiry and Toronto's pesticide bylaw.

Funded by Legal Aid Ontario, CELA also provides a free legal advisory clinic for the public and acts at hearings and in the courts on behalf of citizens or groups who are otherwise unable to afford legal assistance.

Brian Brasier, executive director of Friends of the Second Marsh said this is the latest in a series of steps to stop the plant.

Friends has already made submissions under the City's rezoning process, the Ministry of the Environment's certificate of approval process and the federal Environmental Assessment process.

From here, he said it will depend how council votes on the rezoning and whether the issues proceed to the Ontario Municipal Board.

"We intend to explore every available legal avenue that we can," Mr. Brasier said. "The CELA has the expertise and experience to help us through the process and help us understand what options are available."

Mr. Brasier said his group is concerned by what he calls an "incompatible" use of land.

Friends is dedicated to protecting the 123-hectare wetland located on the north shore of Lake Ontario, adjacent to Gifford Hill, where FarmTech Energy is proposing to built a 12-hectare ethanol plant.

The Second Marsh is the largest remaining urban wetland in the GTA and is home to more than 380 plant species, many types of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish and insects, as well as 254 species of birds of which 68 species actually breed in the wetland, six species are considered provincially significant and three are listed as threatened or endangered.

Friends of the Second Marsh fears an ethanol plant would destroy the visual impact of the marsh, disturb wildlife with noise, pollution and light and create dust products that could impact the sensitive environmental balance of the marsh.

"In our opinion, there are numerous unresolved concerns about the potential environmental impacts of the FarmTech proposal on Second Marsh's ecological features, functions and values," said Richard Lindgren, a lawyer with CELA.

FarmTech President Dan O'Connor has stressed the project is subject to several types of environmental approval, including a screening level assessment under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, approvals from the Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Natural Resources and a public environmental review report.

To date, several studies looking at air, water quality and impact on wildlife have been submitted to the City, and he said they all conclude operation of the proposed plant would have no impact on the marsh.

Council's development services committee is awaiting a report from City staff on the FarmTech re-zoning application. A committee meeting is expected sometime in November, after which the issue will go to council for a vote.