GE’S Opening Salvo

GEPR Energy Canada Inc. (formerly General Electric) has applied to renew an approval from Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) for emissions of noise and toxic chemicals from a Groundwater Extraction and Treatment System running 24/7 on the southern boundary of GE’s property at 107 Park St. North, Peterborough.

Understandably, the community’s concern about a single renewal application from GE pales in comparison with concerns about the massive demolition that GE is planning for the same property. Yet, this renewal application is GE testing the waters – with the municipal and provincial governments and with the citizens of Peterborough. From that perspective, we need to push back on GE’s opening salvo.

GE’s renewal application skirts all concern about the human health and environmental risks inherent in demolishing 26 contaminated, abandoned buildings, where asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and trichloroethylene (TCE) were used – and where thousands of workers contracted myriad grievous, even terminal illnesses from their exposure to these toxins.

Instead, GE’s renewal application skips over the risks of demolishing its contaminated buildings and transports us silently to its “Future Operation”. Other posts here have already highlighted technical problems with GE’s estimates of noise and TCE emissions from a Groundwater Extraction and Treatment System in the “Future Operation” – and there’s more to come.

Here, we want to highlight GE’s bad faith – especially its secretiveness and lack of transparency.

First, GE supports its renewal application with four heavily redacted documents. The MECP has dismissed a request from the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) to release unredacted versions of these documents, stating that GE refuses to the release of the redacted portions. Neither GE nor the MECP has explained the legal grounds for withholding this information from the public.

The redacted information includes:

• Sources of noise and TCE emissions and noise, including source names, equipment type, and location.
• Number of pieces of equipment.
• Sound power levels (dB)
• Total facility emission rates, site-specific emission thresholds, and equipment flow rates.
• References to the Groundwater Extraction and Treatment System, including its planned relocation.

GE claims that the noise and trichloroethylene emission from its property will meet regulatory standards; however, the public cannot assess or verify those claims without access to unredacted versions of GE’s supporting documents.

Second, under the guise of a simple renewal, GE is trying to secure a ten-year approval from the MECP to emit noise and trichloroethylene in a “Future Operation” that survives a massive demolition that GE has so far refused to disclose to public officials and citizens of Peterborough. In similar fashion, GE is trying to disentangle its compliance with provincial laws from BWXT’s operations on the same property – without regard for gaps in environmental safeguards that might result.

Be sure to share your concerns about GE’s renewal application at https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/026-0523 before July 21, 2026.