THUNDER BAY – The company that purchased the former OPG generating station site on Mission Island is seeking rezoning approval, a key step in its plan to market the land for industrial development.
The rezoning application from Hamilton-based Budget Demolition includes a specific ask to identify "industrial-scale computing" – facilities holding servers that store and process data, like data centres and cryptocurrency mining operations – as a use for the property.
Thunder Bay's city council will consider an application to rezone the 54-acre property Heavy Industrial, from its current Industrial–Utilities and Services designation, on Monday.
That would allow a wide range of uses, from manufacturing, to chemical storage, to shipping and transportation terminals.
In a report, the city's planning division noted computing facilities like data centres are arguably already permitted on land zoned Heavy Industrial, but said the company had sought the declaration of the new use “for greater certainty."
Budget Demolition says that's just one potential future for the site.
“There is no specific plan for the site at the moment,” said business development manager Christina Murray. “The site is well-suited for [industrial-scale computing], so we don’t want to close that possibility off.”
The property has “a lot of potential,” she said, adding the company hopes the eventual sale will result in new jobs for the community.
It is actively engaging with interested parties representing various potential uses, she said, but declined to say if any of those involved data centres.
“There has been a lot of interest in the site,” Murray said. “It’s just a matter of finding the right use.”
City administration recommended rezoning, saying it could open up an attractive option for industrial development in an area identified for it.
“It definitely expands the inventory our community has, and gives more options for the market,” said senior planner Decio Lopes, adding the site has features that could be “enticing" to industry.
In a 2019 brochure promoting the site, the Thunder Bay CEDC noted it boasts a large vessel dock, rail access to Canadian Pacific that could be restored, high-voltage power connections and the possibility to connect to natural gas, and “the ability to draw fresh water from the world’s largest lake, Lake Superior.”
In a letter of objection, members of the neighbouring Thunder Bay Yacht Club identified concerns related to the need for advanced cooling systems to handle the heat generated by data centres.
They worry those systems could produce significant noise pollution and transfer heat into the surrounding environment, impacting wildlife as well as recreation uses.
The report from city planning advised council that “outputs and emissions to the natural environment, including noise, are subject to regulations and provincial approval through an Environmental Compliance Approval (ECA).”
The property also comes with some specific restrictions within 120 metres of a wetland along its northeast boundary, which has been identified as provincially significant.
Administration recommended imposing site plan control as a condition of the rezoning, given its proximity to wetlands and Lake Superior.
The rezoning application was reviewed by the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority (LRCA), Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and other government bodies, without objection.
Budget Demolition is still in the midst of demolishing the generating station. The largest piece of that work is set for later this year, when two boilers representing about 40 per cent of the original facility are scheduled to be demolished.
