Dear Editor,

It has come to my attention that Ebco Metal Finishing, the galvanizing plant that wants to open up shop in South Surrey, has had a major accident and spill in their Richmond location.

This is exactly why South Surrey should not have businesses such as Ebco and Weir in the area where they have set up shop. If an accident such as the one in Richmond were to occur in South Surrey where they sit on top of the Brookswood aquifer and have agricultural land directly adjacent to them what would the consequences for all of us be? Not only would our air be polluted from their operations, but our water could be extremely hazardous and the land could become unusable.

Now that their Richmond operation is effectively shut down this puts extra pressure to try and get the South Surrey plant operating as fast as possible! Are they going to try and operate without the permit and just pay the fine as a cost of doing business? Is Metro Vancouver going to give them a permit just because their other location is no longer feasible? Or are they going to apply to the provincial government for an in-council executive order that overrides Metro and puts jobs ahead of environmental concerns?

This kind of accident is exactly why we do not want this sort of business in our sensitive area. Please deny this permit before something catastrophic happens to the sensitive agricultural area in South Surrey.

Amy Morose, Brookswood