Penticton foundry concerns

twobits
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by twobits »

coffeeFreak wrote: The foundry has been there since 1935 so I would suggest that common sense should prevail when considering a purchase of a home that sits above a business such as this. To complain about the smell now seems as crazy to me as buying a home next to an airport and complaining about the noise.


While it is true that the Penticton Foundry was established in 1935, it has not been in that location since then. They moved into that location in approx. 1980. Prior to that the building was a manufactured home plant much like Moduline.
The start of development of Wiltse's Flats began at the same time so they have co-existed since then.
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XT225
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by XT225 »

twobits wrote:
I am pretty sure the tax rate in Wilste Flats is the same as your neighbourhood XT. So what is it you personally don't like? The value of the homes?


You are incorrect. My taxes are a full 1/3 less than the majority of homes in Wiltse Flats. Believe me, I checked. I don't live in the Redlands area; just the North end of town. Far less expensive and no smelling the foundry; thankyou very much.
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by larrylunchbucket »

we do live up the hill from the PF and it was several months after moving here 2 yrs ago before the fumes became an issue , wind direction change with the seasons
having moved here from the coast I was well aware of industry and its impact , which has been cleaned up a lot in the last 10-15 yrs .
I understand that the PF has been here for a long time and long before residential properties were developed above , and it produces needed tax revenues for the CoP , my thinking though is that perhaps the city should not have allowed development above this 'industrial' area , because it can be affected by issues as in this discussion , I think anyone could see that
BUT the CoP needed the tax revenues from the people living on the hill too so it is not an issue for them
, now we have both and this will not change
I think there needs to be tighter controls of the foundries emissions , more open access to this information
I have talked to the provincial government dept about this and got basically no meaningful information
just because we cannot see this pollution does not mean it is harmless
I would like to hear from others on this hillside
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

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I'd like to hear from someone with credible knowledge of what the foundry emissions contain. Stink is one thing but actual toxins are a whole different ball game.
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twobits
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

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XT225 wrote: You are incorrect. My taxes are a full 1/3 less than the majority of homes in Wiltse Flats. Believe me, I checked. I don't live in the Redlands area; just the North end of town. Far less expensive and no smelling the foundry; thankyou very much.


I won't continue this past this post because it is moving off topic but you don't seem to understand property taxation XT. The residential tax rate is the same across the entire city. It is called the Mill Rate. It is multiplied by your assessed property value done by the BC Assessment Authority and that is what determines what you pay for property taxes. The only reason you pay as you say, 1/3 less than the average Wiltse home is because your home is worth 1/3 less.
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XT225
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by XT225 »

twobits wrote:
I won't continue this past this post because it is moving off topic but you don't seem to understand property taxation XT. The residential tax rate is the same across the entire city. It is called the Mill Rate. It is multiplied by your assessed property value done by the BC Assessment Authority and that is what determines what you pay for property taxes. The only reason you pay as you say, 1/3 less than the average Wiltse home is because your home is worth 1/3 less.


Twobits, I completely understand how the mill rate works. I never said that my tax "percentage" was less; only the overall taxes that I pay because of the area that I live in and I know that my house is worth far less than Wiltse area ones. I'm ok with that because I live on the flat, no hills and no smell from the Foundry. I agree with the original poster that it would be beneficial to find out what is IN those emissions. Perhaps contacting the acting mayor who lives on Wiltse flats might get some action in any such investigation. If there ARE any toxins in it, they CAN be asked to clean it up; nobody wants to see the place shut down; not at all. Jobs is what we need here; CLEAN ones.
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by workthatwedo »

I lived up Wiltse from 87-99, folks are still in the same house. I don't ever recall smelling the foundry at the house; they are pretty much dead south of the foundry near Wiltse Blvd & Dartmouth. We are outside up there allot in the summer still. I always could smell it if I walked, biked, or drove by with the window down. I don't remember anyone else complaining about it either. We've known quite a few people along Wiltse Dr, Wiltse Pl... all around the cliff on the north end since the late 80's.

Have you talked to your neighbors about it? Is there a particular time it seems the worst? I had a quick look at the Penticton Foundry website and there are links under the 'contact' tab. Might be a place to start.
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by thank you industry »

I live up in the Wiltse area and consider the foundry one the city's best assets. I have toured the foundry and have been amazed by what they produce. Their product is shipped all over the world, they are not affected by seasonal slow downs, they employ about 100 people from Penticton. They are a good corporate citizen - I'm always seeing them in the "good deeds" section of the newspaper for donating to things in the city. It's a shame that people are narrow-minded about industry because industry is the MAJOR driving force of a city. All industries pay their people well and pay them year-round. From October through April who is supporting all the services in Penticton? People from the foundry, Britco, Slimline, McCoy, etc. We should be doing everything we can to support industry and draw more of it to Penticton. From the little I know about the foundry they are a very clean industry. They recycle lots of steel scrap and they don't produce any effluent at all. Without any scientific evidence I would wager that the hotels in Penticton pollute the water by washing sheets and towels to a much larger extent than the foundry could ever pollute any part of the environment. I was fortunate enough to read a report written by Penticton's economic development office a few years ago: they ranked the GDP produced in Penticton by sector. It was no surprise that INDUSTRY was, by far, the largest generator of GDP in Penticton; far above tourism and government. I don't know what makes up the smell that is given off but I'm thankful every time I drive by and smell it. I always think, "There's a business that seems to suceed no matter what is going on in the valley. There are 100 people that are going to buy groceries, cars, clothes, etc. There are 100 people that are going to restaurants and hiring professionals and keeping this beautiful city vibrant." Thank you industry! And thank you to the foundry for being able to expand! Keep up the good work!
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

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thank you industry wrote:They recycle lots of steel scrap and they don't produce any effluent at all. Without any scientific evidence I would wager that the hotels in Penticton pollute the water by washing sheets and towels to a much larger extent than the foundry could ever pollute any part of the environment.


Still, wouldn't it be nice to know for sure ? I did a little online research and found that in foundries working chiefly in iron there are some common additives (lead and zinc to name a couple) that have been proven carcinogenic. The quality of scrap used is an issue too as incidental paint and coatings along with any miscellaneous organic materials can also add to toxic content of furnace exhaust. I'm sure indoor air quality is monitored to protect the workers but is it simply vented to the outside or are there filters and scrubbers in use ? It would be nice to know for sure.
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Relentless
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

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A common smell is burned mold sand and core sand. The core sands and no bake molds also have resin binders which are probably a bit toxic. Many Foundries have to meet pollution requirements, and I am sure Penticton Foundry has a state of the art pollution filtering system, this was a requirement more than 15 years ago.
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by fluffy »

That makes sense, I've noted on more than one occasion that the foundry smell is similar to what comes out of the beam laminating plants that use a lot of resin based adhesives.
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Relentless
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by Relentless »

Burned silica sand and bonding resin is the main smell you will be smelling.

I worked in a Foundry for 17 years and not one day went by when I went home not smelling like burned core sand, and I worked upstairs in the patternshop, and not on the pouring floor, that smell gets into everything!
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by Gary M »

Hi everyone. A little late with this reply but i have been an employee at Penticton Foundry for the last 8 years. The new expansion that has you concerned is not for production. It's for pattern storage. The big, white, tent shelter down in the scrap yard that you see when you drive by is where we used to store the patterns to make our molds but since we are increasing in production and gaining new customers along with previous customers wanting a different product made, we needed more room to store all these patterns. The smell is quite safe and not harmful. I'm still alive and haven't grown any extra limbs in 8 years haha. What you are smelling is the additive that we mix with the sand to make it harden the mold that forms around the pattern. If these fumes were a hazard to anyone working there or the people living in Wiltse, we would be shut down. We have safety officers on site at all times that monitor everything that goes on in there from a broken headlight on the forklift to the air quality. They use hand held devices that monitor the air quality in all areas and every corner of the plant. The Penticton Fire Department comes for a tour of our plant from time to time to check that every things up to date and up to standard by law. If something needs updating or added for safety reasons, they submit their reports and we deal with it right away. Nothing there gets put on hold when it comes to every ones safety including the general public. Penticton Foundry is a great place to work and yes we hire several times throughout the year. I'm just a regular worker on the floor and not a rep for the company. Everything i've told you is true.

Gary
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by fluffy »

Thanks for that Gary, it's good to know that 'stink' does not necessarily mean 'toxic'. You should be around here the day after taco night.
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Re: Penticton foundry concerns

Post by GordonH »

Thank-you Gary M for info, may that also mean more jobs which Penticton could really use.
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