The harvesting of a natural material that is used to help grow flowers will slow the growth of a small community, say many of its residents.
This month the residents of the Birchgrove Community, more commonly called the Russian Village, outside of Plamondon were shocked to receive notice of a peat moss extraction project that was about to begin close to their community.
"We received notice in May for a project that will be starting in winter of 2018," says concerned resident Stephanie Gostevskyh. "We were caught off guard."
Education plan
There have been notices of public meetings issued to area residents about the planned harvest, and the a provincial expert from the peat moss industry was in Lac La Biche recently to try to soften any concerns about stripping the peat moss from the area and other environmental issues.
“A full-functioning eco-system”, that’s what the president of Alberta’s peat moss industry says will remain after a peat moss harvest operation near Wandering River is completed.
Paul Short, the president of the Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss Association admits the peat that is harvested won’t immediately come back in the same amounts — “to expect to have all the peat back in place in a human being’s lifetime is not possible” — but says that many of the earth’s sustainable resources take decades and generations to regenerate. “Mature spruce trees can be 160 years old — from a seedling today, none of us will be alive at the 160 year mark.”
He said companies under the banner of the national organization, as the operation near Wandering River is, operate under strict responsible peat land management practices.
He says there are social and economic factors at play as well as environmental issues that are taken into consideration with a peat moss harvest operation.
Local trucking operations can benefit from the transportation of the product and off-shoot businesses that support all aspects of the operation can benefit in the region.
But with a portion of the harvest less than half a kilometre away from the BirchGrove community, many residents fear their long-standing way of life is being threatened. The community was established approximately 40 years ago by Russian immigrants. Gostevskyh tells the story of her own grandmother who fled Russia during times of war and starvation.
"She and her family crossed a river on a makeshift raft. Lots of people died coming across. They had to leave everyone and everything behind. They lived in make shift camps and made their way from Russia to China, China to Brazil, Brazil to the States and finally to Canada. They faced war, starvation and persecution the whole way."
Upon settling in the area which was close to their native land as possible, the immigrants got to work in creating a peaceful, quiet community where the inhabitants could live in solitude.
"They worked themselves to the bone to create this community for future generations," says Gostevskyh.
This peace and solitude is what residents feel is being threatened by the proposed project to extract peat moss only 506m from the closest house. With the project estimated to be running for the next 30 years ... "it's too long and too close to be safe," she said.
The process of extracting peat moss was described to the residents at an open house that had a good turnout of concerned citizens. With trenches being dug so close to homes and standing water left in them Gostevskyh believes it really is a safety issue above all else.
"We just aren't sure of how they plan to keep people out. There are lots of kids here. They like to play in the forest and go quadding," says Gostevskyh.
On top of the safety issues raised, residents also are concerned about the noise and dust levels the project will bring. Gostevskyh says they were told the noise level would be equivalent to standing next to a lawn mower. "Anyone that's done that knows it's loud."
Short understands that residents have questions about the harvest and the environmental and economic impacts it will create. He says there will be lots of opportunities for residents to learn more as the area sees more and more interest from peat harvesters.
Short says the northeastern part of the province, including areas around Lac La Biche County, are on the radar of many peat moss companies.
“I know of a lot of companies in our industry are looking here in Lac La Biche County,” he said admitting that although his expertise is more in line with the policy and advocacy of the industry, exploration was ramping up in the area. “You have a commodity of peat, quality peat in this area.”
Gostevskyh states that the residents don't really have an issue with the project itself. They just find it to be too close to their community for far too long.
"My kids will be almost 40 before it's completed. That's unfathomable to me. That they won't be able to have the same kind of childhood I did."
Another point noted by Gostevskyh was the limited time frame that the company is giving them to create a relationship between all interested parties.
"All the information I got besides the one mailed notice, I had to hunt and search for. I only found out about the presentation to council after talking to my councillor. If a company is going to be working so closely with a community for so long, they could do more to build a relationship. There just wasn't enough time to create a relationship for such a big project."
Future meetings and information sessions will be posted in the Lac La Biche POST if the information is made available.
