No asphalt production at JFK this year
Asphalt production won’t occur at all at the JFK Quarry this season, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) director of public safety Lloyd Phillips told The Eastern Door this week.
“For them opening this year, it’s not going to happen, I can say that with confidence, because there’s no regulations in place,” Phillips said. “For next year, it’s going to be a matter of consultations with the community, stakeholders, and ultimately Council to determine whether or not they want to move forward with regulations.”
Right now, asphalt production and all other production at the quarry is subject to MCK’s Sanitary Conditions Law, which has been in place since the early 2000s. Anybody who carries out activities in the community that have potential impact on the environment must get a Sanitary Conditions Law permit, but community members also expressed concerns about asphalt in particular, which was flagged with Council last fall.
It was decided that a specific permit would be created for asphalt production, which would come about via the Community Decision Making and Review Process (CDMRP). The Kahnawake Legislative Commission (KLC), which oversees this process, needs to spend time researching standards for asphalt production in order to draft legislation, which would then be turned over to the community for feedback and review.
Phillips said that the KLC has been speaking with consultants in order to prepare for stakeholder and community feedback processes, which would be thoroughly considered in future phrases of draft regulations before being approved and enacted by Council.
It’s hoped the regulations could be finalized by midwinter time.
“I understand obviously from JFK’s perspective that they want to know what’s happening and what their next step is going to be for the operation of their business, and I also understand that there’s some concerns for community members, so we need to see where it goes,” he said.
MCK grand chief Cody Diabo said that though it’s been around a year since the regulations first started being discussed by Council, it’s essential all steps of the CDMRP are followed to ensure all perspectives are heard.
“We have a process that we need to follow, and government doesn’t work at the same pace as businesses,” he said.
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“In general, we need to have a law on the books, so these regulations can go underneath the Sanitary Conditions Law.”
Asphalt production typically runs from the middle of spring to the start of winter, but no asphalt has been produced at JFK since last year’s season ended. Frank McComber, owner of JFK Quarry, declined to comment for this article.
