With an Environmental Appeals Board hearing scheduled for later in the month, a group opposed to a proposed biodigester in Foothills County is calling on the public to help fund its legal challenge.
Alberta Environment and Protected Areas issued approval to Rimrock Renewables for a waste management facility, or biodigester, last December at the Rimrock Feeders feedlot west of High River. The proposed facility would use feedlot and other types of waste to make renewable natural gas.
The hearing, scheduled for Nov. 26 to 28, will be by video conference. Those wanting to present during the hearing had to register by last month.
The hearing is being held after mediation meeting between Rimrock Renewables and area residents, held several months after the approval, failed to reach an agreement.
The EAB said the hearing will not be open for public viewing, but audio recordings can be requested.
Benita Estes and four other residents filed statements of concern and have retained a lawyer to appeal approval of the biodigester.
Estes calls the biodigester an industrial project that has no positive value for the area, adding it will negatively affect residents and wildlife in the region in a number of ways, including the creation of an effluent lake and the trucking in of waste.
“We (clients) are raising funds for the continuing legal representation in the appeals process and for the retaining of experts to testify on our behalf regarding the design and operation of this facility,” Estes wrote on a GoFundMe page.
“Even though the group of residents above has retained Gavin Fitch, this appeals process is being carried out for the greater good of all residents that will be negatively affected by this project, living in Foothills County, High River and Okotoks.”
The GoFundMe page had raised just over $18,000 of its $100,000 goal.
Residents concerned about the proposed biodigester are being asked to either donate to the GoFundMe or send an etransfer directly to [email protected].