Coastal Shell loses bid to be considered 'agricultural operation'

Coastal Shell Products has lost its bid to be considered an agricultural operation so that its activities can't be blocked in court.

After a hearing in Fredericton on Tuesday afternoon, the province's Farm Practices Review Board ruled that the Richibucto shell-processing plant doesn't meet the definition under the Agricultural Operations Practices Act.

A spokesperson for the Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development said the board would issue a written decision "in the near future" outlining its reasoning.

The issue arose in November when members of the Kent Clear Air Action Committee tried to get a court injunction to have the plant shut down over persistent smells emitted by the plant during operation.

A lawyer for Coastal Shell argued the judge couldn't grant an injunction because the residents should have complained first to the agricultural board. He said because the company produces fertilizer, it is an "agricultural operation" that can't be blocked in court.

In the end, the judge dismissed the request for an injunction, saying she was unable to determine whether Coastal Shell Products is an agricultural operation.

While not happy with the six-month diversion in their fight, Maisie Rae McNaughton of the Kent Clean Act Action Committee is pleased with Tuesday's decision.

Maisie Rae McNaughton of the Kent Clear Air Action Committee said the group will file another application for a court injunction to shut down the plant they say has been stinking up the town since it opened in 2016. (Jacques Poitras/CBC)

"We desperately needed a win," said McNaughton, who was one of the people who presented information to the board. "My community really needed a win.

"And this might seem like a small win, but when you have loss after loss after loss, a win like this, it means the world because it means that finally we feel like we're being listened to."

She said her group will now turn its efforts back to the courts and try again for a court injunction.

The company, on the other hand, wasn't so happy about the board's decision.

In a statement released after Tuesday's decision, general manager Jamie Goguen said Coastal Shell was "disappointed" but would "fully accept" the board's decision.

He went on to say the company continues to try to reduce emissions, and he touted the role the company plays "in the success of New Brunswick's lobster and crab industry."

WATCH | And the stink goes on, say residents:

He said 10 facilities rely on the plant's ability to process shellfish waste.

"Without this option the industry would be hard-pressed to be able to find a suitable location for processing this by-product," Goguen wrote.

"In addition, the ability to value-add this waste product and divert it from landfill has long-term benefits to our environment."

Although he didn't respond to an interview request, in a followup email, Goguen said the company has already spent more than $230,000 on improvements.

He said it also applied for financing through the Atlantic Fisheries Fund to "bring in new technology and innovation not just to Coastal Shell Products but to other Atlantic sectors that are facing similar challenges to ours."

The Coastal Shell Products plant can be seen in the distance, beyond a stand of trees, from École Soleil Levant. Both are located on Morgan Street in Richibucto. Residents won a short-lived order closing the plant in 2019, and last year the province shut it down for two days after finding crustacean shells weren't properly stored. (Google Street view)

By turning shellfish waste into organic fertilizer, Gogen said, it replaces the need for traditional chemical fertilizers.

"By doing all of this we are also removing thousands of tons of waste from landfills and compost sites, which eliminates the release of methane gas from the atmosphere."

In the last three years, Goguen said, Coastal Shell processed more than 25,000 tonnes of shell waste and eliminated greenhouse gasses as a result.

Rotting lobsters and burnt wires

Coastal Shell Products has been in operation in Richibucto since 2016. Residents have been trying to shut it down since 2017.

Formerly known as Omera Shells, the company describes itself on its website as a "crustacean shell drying facility." The plant heats and dries old lobster and snow-crab shells and shrimp skins that are then ground into a powder that's used for fertilizer and animal feed.

Residents in the community of Richibucto, now part of the newly formed municipality of Beaurivage, say the smell is so strong it makes people sick, has made spending time outdoors unbearable, and is affecting their physical and mental health.

Residents often struggle to convey the extent of the stench. It's been described as smelling like a pile of rotting seafood that's been set on fire, and like rotting lobsters mixed with burnt wires.

The Department of Environment has extended the company's approval to operate until Aug. 31. It previously said the decision is contingent on the installation of odour-reducing technology.

Meanwhile, McNaughton said there's been no improvement to air quality.

"There have been no improvements made over the winter," she said. "There's been no new technology that's been installed, so it is just as rank as it's ever been. It's just as loud.

"It's just as it's ever been, and the trucks are still coursing through our town. We feel we're prisoners in our home past 8 p.m. So the nightmare continues."