Water bottling giant says if a new trucking firm sets up shop across the road ‘it has the potential to affect our business if strong environmental compliance is not followed or an accidental spill were to occur’
ABERFOYLE – A trucking company proposing to relocate its headquarters to Puslinch is getting a bit of pushback from water bottling company BlueTriton — its possible neighbours on the other side of the roundabout.
Wellington Motor Freight has applied to rezone 128 Brock Rd. S., a 15-acre property near Gilmour Road, to permit a three-storey office building and warehouse to be the main location for the trucking company. The buildings would total just under 218,000 square feet.
It would also include a parking area with 170 employee parking spots, 123 tractor and trailer parking spaces and 21 loading spaces.
The new location would consolidate an existing office in Puslinch and Campbellville for over 100 employees and an additional 50 drivers.
With an public meeting on the rezoning set for Puslinch council Wednesday, several parties have submitted letters to the township expressing concern including BlueTriton Brands Canada (BTB) — a water bottling operation formerly known as Nestle Waters Canada.
“As one of the most heavily monitored water-taking sites in the province, whose business depends on the quality of the water we bottle, we are extremely concerned with this type of operation potentially being constructed across the street from our operations,” wrote Andreanne Simard, natural resources manager for BTB.
Without proper controls at the proposed trucking facility, Simard stated the proposed development would be a direct threat to the local groundwater quality and to the BTB production well which supplies water to its 200 employee facility.
“If this project moves forward, it has the potential to affect our business if strong environmental compliance is not followed or an accidental spill were to occur,” Simard wrote.
More specific concerns outlined in Simard’s letter include an existing supply well on the proposed property which she said would need to be decommissioned because of its connection to other aquifers and infiltration from the proposed septic field based on its proposed location at a low point on the property.
Simard recommended in the letter the facility use an alternative to road salt and deicer and for the company to have an extensive monitoring program for stormwater to ensure groundwater quality is not compromised.
“Without plans to properly abandon the existing supply well at the location of the proposed facility and an extensive monitoring and reporting program, the proposed development is an unnecessary threat to the groundwater resources for all residents and businesses in this area,” Simard wrote.
The public meeting on this proposal will be held virtually and in person at the Puslinch Community Centre on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
The full agenda for the public meeting can be found here.