Leviathan wants to be neighbourly before Foss Road construction starts
BY JENNIFER CHORNLEY The VOICE
Pelham’s latest future cannabis production company hosted an information session for residents on Monday, November 5 at the community centre.
In a follow-up email interview, Leviathan Cannabis provided the the Voice with a Power Point Presentation made by CEO Martin Doane.
This presentation addressed the company’s overall mandate and a variety of issues including odour, light, location, parking, usage, water, waste, energy and employment.
It was stated in the presentation that the Leviathan greenhouse facility will be completely sealed with state-of-the-art “next generation” technology, setting
the standard for cannabis operations and “good neighbour principles” in the region.
Regarding odour, the building will be a sealed greenhouse design. It will have activated charcoal filters and an atomized fog mist neutralizer at all exhaust points, bipolar ionization for air purification within rooms with cannabis, and a camouflage landscaping design using lilac, rosemary and mint.
The company asserts that there is a three-step process to combat the odour. The first step is in-room odour reduction through bipolar ionization, second is in-duct odour reduction consisting of a high pressure odour neutralizer, and the final step being odour absorption at the point or exhaust from the building using activated carbon filters.
With the lighting, it was presented that about 85 percent of the greenhouse will be in sync with the natural sun rhythm.
A black-out system will be drawn no later than 8 PM daily. The supplemental light is all downcast LED, compared to omni-directional conventional lighting.
All exterior lighting will be downcast, while the LED will use “dark-sky friendly” fixtures.
The proposed site is situated 1000 feet from the Foss Road public roadway. The parking lot will accommodate up to 150 passenger vehicles and have adequate access and turn-around for the delivery vehicles, according to the plans shown on Monday.
It was presented that Leviathan will be operating at 84,000 square feet during the first phase of cultivation on the 29.5 acre property.
Chief Communications Officer Jayne Beckwith said the company’s initial operations and current focus is growing and selling dry cannabis to other licensed producers.
With residents’ concern about the impact of how much water the site will use, Beckwith said the previous usage for cucumber cultivation was more invasive than for cannabis production. All greenhouse run-off, along with the cooling and dehumidification moisture, will be captured and reused. Using a sealed design, said Beckwith, there is less evaporative water loss.
Leviathan plans to cultivate cannabis using organic soil, with no use of pesticides. Instead, beneficial predator insects will be used. All fertilizer run-off will be captured and filtered for re-use. In lieu of on-site composting, an industrial waste grinder will be used to destroy production waste, in accordance with Health Canada guidelines.
Waste will be taken off premises by a professional waste management company in response to the concern voiced at the town hall meeting over smell that could arise from an outdoor composting operation.
Regarding energy consumption, it was presented that LED lighting will decrease the cooling load in the space proportionally. Cooling and dehumidification will be high-efficiency chilled water design with closed-loop air circulation, meaning no direct air exchange with odours. Facility heating will be done with high efficiency natural gas boilers.
Pelham is the company’s first base of operations.
“Leviathan chose Pelham because it is located in a rich agricultural region with a substantial amount of sunlight, which decreases our energy requirements,” Beckwith said in an email.
“It’s close to universities and colleges from which to draw talent, [plus the area has a] skilled local labour pool and is a central transportation hub.”
In addition, “It was already a working cucumber farm and cannabis is also an agricultural product. Plus, the property is secluded as the perimeters are bordered by railway tracks, trees and ponds.”
Although Leviathan is not yet licensed, Beckwith said the firm did receive its “confirmation of readiness” from Health Canada in March and expects to be licensed for cultivation in the second quarter of 2019.
Even though cannabis production is now legal nationwide, the industry will have its challenges Beckwith said.
“Many people continue to view cannabis as a negative, illicit enterprise but there are huge benefits to cannabis, particularly the medicinal therapies and treatments. One of the industry’s main challenges is to educate the public.”
About 100 people attended the Leviathan Cannabis informative session and said the meeting was “informative” for both attendees and the company representatives.
Beckwith said the input session resulted in “productive conversation” and “healthy dialogue surrounding issues and concerns.” She also added that Leviathan will continue to host community updates.
David Ireland, a resident whose property is adjacent to the proposed site and who attended the event, said, “the meeting was both informative for us as residents and also for Leviathan themselves.”
He added, “They seem like nice people,” but Ireland still has reservations due to another major cultivation facility still having consistent odour control issues.
In addition, “I am appreciative they did make an effort to give the public knowledge of what their plans are, considering that none of the other two large operations ever have.”
