Ford says mayor's allegations are `disappointing' n 13 · Wednesday, March 10, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Continued from page 1 which he described as `dirty' and `dangerous.' "Right now the situation is that Ford Motor Company clearly believes there is room in Oakville's air for more toxic pollution and they are wrong," said Burton. "In my opinion, there is a dirty stain on the shining new green image that Ford is hiding behind in its TV ads and that stain is only going to get worse if they don't stop TransCanada from putting at risk Oakville's health and safety, not to mention Ford's own. They reported $2.7 billion in profit. Why do they need to sell out the community that's hosted Ford for almost 60 years to get TransCanada's $50 million." Burton said the amount of property taxes Ford pays to the Town should not shield it from criticism, particularly because these taxes only represent a half of one per cent of the town's revenues. Ford has taken exception to these comments on a number of levels. "The mayor's allegations about `conspiring' are surprising and disappointing. Long before the Ford land sale was completed, Ford facilitated meetings with the mayor to ensure that he was introduced to the TransCanada team early in the process. At no time during those meetings did the mayor indicate such strong opposition or concerns," said Lauren More, vice president of communications for Ford Motor Company of Canada. "Ford of Canada has consistently pressed both TransCanada and the Ontario government to provide Oakville residents with information about the project to help address their concerns. After all, we work and live here, too. The decision to build the power plant in Oakville was made by the Ontario government, through the OPA, not by Ford of Canada." More also said Ford is a significant taxpayer and contributor to the Oakville economy and called the mayor's comments disrespectful to the 3,500 men and women who work at Ford's facilities in Oakville. The Oakville Chamber of Commerce has waded into the argument between Burton and the Ford, calling for a restoration of the good relations previously enjoyed. "Our focus is to discourage rhetoric and promote healthy town-business relations," said John Sawyer, president of the Oakville Chamber of Commerce. "The Chamber has and continues to encourage the Town to engage in a thorough, balanced and informed exchange with all members of our local business community, so that the impacts and unintended consequences of the new air quality bylaw are understood and addressed." TransCanada has also jumped on Burton's comments, taking exception to his characterization of its future operation as `dirty' and `dangerous.' On the `dirty' aspect, TransCanada spokesperson Chris Breen said Ontario is replacing coal with clean-burning natural gas power plants like the Oakville Generating Station, which will actually make Ontario's air cleaner. He also said the fine particulate matter from this plant will be negligible compared to sources in the local airshed like the Queen Elizabeth Way. On the `dangerous' aspect, Breen said safety is TransCanada's top priority. He said it has had no public safety incidents in more than 20 years of building and operating power plants. Breen said TransCanada does not subscribe to the same practices that led to the recent explosion at a 620-megawatt gas-fired power plant in Middletown, Connecticut. "The Connecticut incident occurred by cleaning a pipeline with natural gas. We just don't do this, it is very dangerous," said Breen. "We clean pipelines with non-flammable substances like air and nitrogen to eliminate such risk. 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