Emotions high at Wheatley meeting

By Mark Ribble

WHEATLEY — Emotions were running high at the first in-person Wheatley Community Meeting on Wednesday, November 3, with residents demanding answers to questions and officials giving further updates on the investigation into the August 26 explosion.

About 150 people showed up at Talbot Trail Golf Course to meet with various municipal and government officials in the meeting organized by the Active Citizens of Wheatley group.

Lauren Anderson, who has spearheaded community fundraising and relief efforts from the getgo, was moderator for the event, which allowed displaced residents and concerned citizens an opportunity to vent frustrations and get questions answered.

Anderson opened the meeting by talking about the support from the community and how the Wheatley Disaster Relief group formed a partnership with the municipality and Chatham-Kent social services.

“Thank you to the community,” she said. “The community support was amazing.”

She also acknowledged both Kim Grant and Erika Renwick of the Wheatley BIA for the work they’ve done in helping the community through the crisis.

The group has raised over $215,000 in the course of three months to help those displaced by the explosion.

The panel also consisted of Chatham-Kent Mayor Darrin Canniff, CAO Don Shropshire, Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering Services Thomas Kelly, C-K Councillors Melissa Harrigan and Mark Authier, Fire Chief Chris Case and Director of Employment and Social Services Polly Smith. Representing the Ontario government was Assistant Deputy Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry, Jennifer Barton.

Mayor Canniff was grateful to Anderson and her team for putting the meeting together and told those in attendance that the panel would answer questions to the best of their ability.

“We’ve heard from various people that we are not being communicative enough,” he said.

Councillor Harrigan brought greetings from all of council and said that all Chatham-Kent elected officials are looking forward to helping rebuild Wheatley.

“I am really feeling for all of you and am with you,” she said.

Deputy Minister Barton started the meeting off with an update on the investigation.

She said that three areas of interest have been identified, deemed Areas of Potential Environmental Concern (APEC).

The process so far has involved data gathering, geophysical surveys, soil vapour analysis and source and pathway analysis.

“It is complicated and complex,” she said.

The first location – APEC 1 – is the explosion site at the former Pogue building, where gas was first discovered on June 2. Four gas probes recently inserted at the location were instrumental in this determination.

Residents talking about issues as they await the start of the public meeting held on November 3 at Talbot Trail Golf Course.

SUN photo by Greg Coulter

The second location – APEC 2 – is identified as Well 000981, the decommissioned Tait well that was located with ground penetrating radar. This is in the middle of the municipal parking lot behind the Pogue. A trench was dug and gas bubbles were noted emerging from the ground. Elevated levels of methane gas were observed and the bubbles were temporarily vented with constant monitoring ongoing.

The third area of concern is APEC 3 – where a pipe was embedded in the ground in the area. The pipe was removed and the area hydro-vacced to about nine feet in depth.

The gas responsible for the explosion – Hydrogen Sulphide – has not been detected in APEC 2 or APEC 3 and has only been detected at APEC 1 on the four ‘gas event’ occasions in June, July, August (explosion) and the latest in October.

Barton explained that they’ve hired Golder and Associates as well as independent contractors with expertise in the gas and oil industry to be part of the investigation and come up with a solution.

Officials believe that the gas may be originating in the APEC 2 abandoned well and finding its way to underneath the Pogue building, but they’ve yet to determine the pathway. About 50-75 feet separates the two sites.

“We need to confirm if there is a pathway between the two sites,” she said. “As soon as we know how we want to mitigate and move forward, we want to do that.”

While she said she knows it’s not as fast as everyone would like, she assured those in attendance that they are looking at everything.

According to Thomas Kelly, Manager of Infrastructure and Engineering for Chatham Kent, watermain valves have now been shut off to all evacuated homes and businesses, in anticipation of winter temperatures setting in.

The municipality has developed a plan to allow evacuees one hour to access their homes and remove items they deem necessary.

First, municipal officials will need to enter each building to determine if it’s safe for the owners to enter. Once that is determined, they will contact the owner(s) to set up a time to go in with them. Each home will be allowed two people plus a municipal official.

If a home is safe, it will be deemed ‘green’. If it’s not, it will be deemed ‘red’.

For those in the green category, Kelly says they will set up a time to meet at a central location and a municipal official will drive them in a pickup to their home, where they will be allowed one hour to gather things they will need over the winter.

Items may include clothing, valuables, sentimental items and other needs.

Contractors will then go in (at Chatham-Kent’s expense) and winterize the homes and close up any swimming pools that may be in the zone.

At this point, contents of refrigerators and freezers must be left alone. Kelly responded to questions about this by saying he would look into it, but it may not be feasible.

“Your home will not look quite like it did when you left it,” said Kelly. “We want you to be ready for that.”

Kelly cited rotted food, mold, broken windows and the possibility of rodents as some of the more unpleasant things that may be seen.

The municipality will be contacting each evacuated family and going through an extensive questionnaire to determine what they need. The Residents Speak When the update was finished, several residents got up to express their frustration and ask questions of the panel.

Questions about insurance, the investigation timeline, property values and expanding the evacuation zone were the hot topics of the two-hour question period.

“The insurance company has given us the big run-around,” said one speaker. “They are saying there is no coverage for the evacuation.”

Don Shropshire said that the municipality is working with the Insurance Board of Canada and all insurance companies to get those issues rectified.

Another resident — angry and upset — told the panel that they’ve had two months and still don’t have answers to the questions.

Shropshire reiterated that the Wheatley situation is the top priority of the municipality.

“I understand your frustration,” he said. “We are equally as frustrated.”

Resident Steve Ingram didn’t pull any punches when he stepped up to the microphone, admitting he wasn’t there to thank them for anything.

“Don’t look at us and say you’re frustrated,” he said. “You don’t even know what it’s like. We don’t need your thanks. We need you to get things done.”

He said the urgency that officials are showing now should have been displayed back in the beginning of the issue.

“Ask yourself why you put us in this position,” he said.

Councillor Harrigan responded with an emotional speech to those in attendance.

“The work we are doing is with true heart,” she said. “Trust me, we’re not just doing this for a paycheque. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.”

Another resident questioned the lack of communication from the municipality on progress being made with the investigation.

Residents have been able to subscribe to an email update which is sent out periodically, but the complaint was that these emails are few and far between and usually don’t contain a lot of detail.

“We need better communication,” said one speaker. “Properly informed individuals have no need to spread rumours if there is proper communication.”

Other questions and concerns revolved around the security guards stationed at the road blocks and how they are falling asleep in their cars while they should be watching for people breaching the evacuation barriers.

Resident Doug Walker summed it up when he thanked Deputy Minister Barton for being present to answer questions and provide updates on the investigation. He said they are pinning their hopes on the province’s involvement.

“We’re counting on you,” he said to the Deputy Minister.

For Lauren Anderson, she was glad that residents were able to ask questions and provide feedback.

“I think the community meeting went as well as possible. I definitely saw a shift in how people entered the meeting and how they left the meeting, A little lighter. Seeing everyone together supporting each other in-person was very important and necessary for our community,” she said.

About 250 additional people watched the meeting on Facebook Live and were able to ask questions in the comments section.