Photo supplied.
This is the view of a local farmer of a large scale cannabis cultivation operation in Pelham, Ontario demonstrating the light pollution the operation creates.
When Trevor Brand heard his neighbour’s greenhouse had been rented to a cannabis grower, he immediately went to the internet to find out what to expect.
Brand, a farmer in Lambton County, soon had his worst fears confirmed. Blazing lights that cast a day-like glow over his farm at midnight, a pervasive unpleasant odour he likens to skunk spray and the relentless whine of generators and pumps turned his once peaceful farm into a nightmare.
The smell of flowering cannabis plants was so bad that an MPAC official who visited to assess the problem actually reduced his home’s assessed value from $250K to $99K- an unheard of devaluation that reflected just how unpleasant living next to a large-scale cannabis production can be. Complaints were filed from kilometres away in town, and from a seniors’ residence in Petrolia.
Trevor’s complaints forced the corporation renting the greenhouse to implement successive measures to combat the smell, noise and light. These measures had little effect on the problems. He was told that “essential oils” sprayed into the air blown from the building would mask the odour, making it smell like blueberries. To Trevor and his family, these chemicals just added a layer of cheap perfume to the “horrible skunk smell”.
After more complaints, the company added carbon filters to the wall of fans that faced Trevor’s house. However, roof vents were frequently opened, allowing odour to escape untreated. In an attempt to combat the light pollution that lit up the night sky for miles around, the company installed light curtains, but these proved ineffective. A helicopter, employed to spray chemicals on the greenhouse roof, did so in high winds that spread the treatment onto Trevor’s house and car.
With his family’s quiet enjoyment of their home undermined, Trevor spent tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees trying to hold his neighbour to account. Weeks before a formal hearing, he was told the company was shutting down the facility. “They’d been saying they were going to expand,” says Trevor. He notes, “the water and electricity they use is astronomical” and wonders if that was why they moved on.
Since his “three years of hell” ended in late 2021, Trevor has been contacted by many people who are dealing with similar problems. He points to ineffective standards set by Health Canada and weak monitoring and enforcement of their own rules as things he would like to see changed. Also questionable is the categorization of cannabis as an agricultural rather than an industrial product. Issues around cannabis cultivation have been studied by our council, who expect to pass a by-law regulating licensed operations at their meeting on April 4th.
Trevor will be attending an online meeting in Cavan-Monaghan on April 7th at 7pm. A panel of guests will share their encounters with commercial cannabis production and discuss what can and cannot be done to protect citizens from its unwanted side-effects.
Residents are invited to register for this online meeting at www.cmfuturewatch.org.
By CM FutureWatch
