Dawn-Euphemia is setting aside $5,000 for a study to see if Petrolia’s water plant can produce enough water for a planned $100 million greenhouse project.
Greenhill Produce from Thamesville bought 100 acres of land in Edys Mills and plans to build over 40 acres of greenhouses in four stages. It chose the land because of easy access to natural gas and the availability of water.
And while a pipeline runs down Oil Heritage Road, right past the proposed operation, there is some question whether the local municipalities will be able to supply enough water for the greenhouses.
Mayor Al Broad told council Monday that he met with Petrolia Mayor John McCharles and the town’s CAO, Manny Baron, as well as Enniskillen Mayor Kevin Marriott on the issue. Petrolia owns the Bright’s Grove plant which supplies water to Enniskillen which resells the water to Dawn-Euphemia.
Broad says the greenhouse operation will need between 2,600 and 5,200 gallons of water per day. Broad says Petrolia has a permit to take enough water from Lake Huron to supply the need however the question is whether the Bright’s Grove plant can process it.
“The only way to get concrete numbers is to get a study done by Petrolia’s engineer,” says Broad. “We need to know how much water we can get at the end of the day.”
The study is expected to cost $5,000. “Petrolia was clear they were not paying for it and Enniskillen did its investigation,” says Broad. “So it is either us or the proponent.”
Broad and council agreed to foot the initial cost of the study. “We pay for the water study and if the greenhouse moves forward, it is part of the cost that will be pushed off to them with the cost of their water. If not, we have the information for the future.”
The money for the study will come from the water reserves. It’s not clear how long it will take.