Stench from seashell processing plant makes some sick, wrecks quality of life: residents

Stench from a seashell processing facility in Richibucto is making some people sick and, local residents say, destroying their quality of life. Coastal Shell Products (CSP) processes lobster, clam, shrimp and crab shells that, during drying, emit a nauseating stink. 

More than 100 concerned parents, teachers, and students showed up in front of city hall Tuesday evening, June 20, in Richibucto to demand that the municipal council, and newly elected Mayor Arnold Vautour do something about the situation.

Richibucto and four other municipalities, St. Ignace, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Aldouane, were forced by the province to amalgamate last fall and are now, collectively, the Town of Beaurivage. So far, the new council has not been able to do anything about the stench and related health issues.

Coastal Shell Products has been operating in Richibucto for seven years, but it’s only in the last year that residents have begun to organize formally to demand action from their elected representatives. So far, their pleas for help appear to have fallen on deaf ears. The NB Media Co-op reached out to the company for comment, but the call has not been returned so far.

Marie-Louise Brideau is with the Kent Clean Air Action Committee and says that, at times, the stink is so bad she wants to vomit. She has also kept her six-year old son home from school when the putrid odour has been overpowering.

“It’s not right that the children can’t go outside and play, and it’s affecting kids in the daycare too,” Brideau said. “Families can’t have barbecues.”

Brideau and other parents also question the wisdom of the old council’s original 2016 decision (before amalgamation) to locate CSP near both a school and a senior citizens’ home. “Children and seniors are the two groups we should be most concerned to protect,” she said.

Prominent among the demonstrators in Richibucto on Tuesday were students of École Soleil Levant, which is located about 200-300 yards west of the plant. Older students from École Soleil Levant carried signs that read “Arrêtez la peste”(‘Stop the torment’).

Younger school children proudly displayed signs reading “On veut jouer dehors” (‘We want to play outdoors’). Both took part in chanting outside the municipal offices to make clear that they are serious about wanting something done.

École Soleil Levant principal Rhéal Allain was also at the protest. “When the odour is strong, we have students with headaches, nausea, and coughing,” principal Allain said. Allain did not have statistics on how many students miss school because of the stink.

Maisie Rae McNaughton is a KCAAC member and one of the many concerned parents demanding action from the Beaurivage municipal council. McNaughton wonders how much of the fine, shell particulate matter created when the shells are ground up is in the air and being inhaled by children and adults alike.

She says the vapours from shell processing “go up the stack and into the air,” and that causes her concern. “What are the long term health implications of a situation like this?” McNaughton asks.

Arnold Vautour is the first mayor of the new municipality of Beaurivage. Vautour appeared supportive of the parents and students. He stood with students, smiling broadly, and appeared to be chanting with them. When asked by the NB Media Co-op for comment, however, Vautour declined to comment.

Dallas McQuarrie is a NB Media Co-op writer who lives on unceded Mi’kmaq territory in Kent County.