On January 12th, of this…

On January 12th, of this year, Ssonix had a huge explosion. On January 13th due to that explosion Ryan Konkin lost his life.

As a resident of Port Weller East, I was evacuated from my home. Shaking and in fear for how far and how fast the fire might spread. Black smoke crossed the sky and engulfed our homes. What toxins did we ingest that day and what are the long term consequences we just don’t know. Of course there were tests done to reassure us, but they were not done at 6:35am that day.

How was it possible that a chemical waste disposal unit was within just over 200 metres from some of our homes. How is it possible that with the information we have today that it could re-open.

While there are 84 charges already laid against the directors and Ssonix, we are far from over. We don’t know yet if criminal charges will be laid for Ryan Konkin’s death, or violations of labour laws, for those other workers who fortunately were not at work yet. How can it be any form of sanity to allow this company to continue operations while all of this is pending.

On that fatal night the residents in Port Weller East were told to evacuate. Only to discover their access to evacuation was blocked by a fire hose. So we had to sit and breath that chemically laced smoke. We are having a hard battle with the City of St. Catharines to give us a second way out in case this should happen again. It is now in the hands of an Environmental Assessment which will take months. Even if approved then the budget will need to be found to build the road. How is it possible that the lives of the PWE residents could be dealt with so cavalierly by Ssonix. To not even help us with the safety of a second road out, but just go ahead and want to rebuild, without an ounce of compassion for the people who live in close proximity to such an unsafe business. They have never tried to reach out to any of the stakeholders in our neighbourhood.

The fear of Ssonix being allowed to reopen is palpable in the air. To allow them to start up again in this neighbourhood would be seen as grossly negligent. To put their business ahead of our lives is beyond comprehension.