Construction site for slaughterhouse torched, costs $500,000 in damages — Clair, New Brunswick, Canada

Evidence of Molotov cocktails was discovered at the scene of a fire that caused more than $500,000 in damage to a construction site for a chicken slaughterhouse in the province’s northwest Saturday, says the RCMP.

The suspected arson destroyed a truck at the construction site for Groupe Westco Inc.’s new slaughterhouse in Clair.

The RCMP said it appears someone, or several people, also tried to start several smaller fires at a number of utility trailers on the site.

The police and fire department responded to the fire at around 3 a.m. Saturday morning.

“There were bottles there with flammable liquid inside, and they were thrown inside the trailers,” said Sgt. Marc Violette of District 10 RCMP.

“It’s what’s commonly referred to as Molotov cocktails.”

Thomas Soucy, the president and CEO of Groupe Westco Inc., confirmed Monday the fire caused more than $500,000 in damage to its Sunnymel slaughterhouse construction site.

Sunnymel - a partnership between Westco and Quebec-based company Olymel L.P. - is scheduled to open its slaughterhouse in Clair in about 12 months.

The $40-million plant should create about 250 jobs, the company has said.

“People went onto our new plant site where we are building the new slaughterhouse, and they threw rocks inside the construction office and one of the trucks. And they had bottles of explosive liquid that they threw inside of our heavy equipment machines and inside of the office so that it would burn,” Soucy said.

The contract company for the construction project lost an articulated truck in the fire. A rolling compacter and two offices were also damaged, Soucy said.

“It’s very hard for me to deal with this. I’ve been going through hoops and hurdles to try and invest in order to create 250 jobs and bring the chicken to New Brunswick,” he said.

Westco, New Brunswick’s largest chicken producer, has been locked in a battle about the province’s chicken supply for years.

In 2008, Westco teamed up with Olymel L.P. and began shipping its chickens to Olymel’s slaughterhouse in Quebec instead of to the neighbouring Nadeau Poultry Ltd. slaughterhouse in St. Francois-de-Madawaska, the only chicken slaughterhouse in New Brunswick.

Nadeau had to cut 165 employees the next year as it lost the bulk of its supply.

Soucy has said he should be able to process its chickens where it wants and points out he plans to bring those chickens back to the province when it opens its new Sunnymel plant. Construction on the plant began in August.

In a statement emailed to Canadaeast News, Nadeau’s general manager, Yves Landry, urged the media and public to refrain from jumping to conclusions in order to allow investigating authorities to examine all circumstances and evidence surrounding the fire.

“Nadeau Poultry condemns such (alleged) criminal activity and appeals to anyone with information to come forward and cooperate with Police in the interest of public safety,” Landry said.

There are no specific suspects, Violette said, adding the investigation is ongoing and nothing is being ruled out.

“There are too many to narrow it down. Everything is still a possibility,” he said.

Several charges could be laid as a result of the investigation, Violette said.

The fire won’t delay the construction schedule since the project was already ahead of schedule, Soucy said.

“Whoever knows anything about this can help their fellow future employees at Westco and to help the community by reporting to the RCMP who is doing this,” Soucy said.

“I’m crying out to the people of the region to let me invest, let me do my thing, let me create those jobs.”

http://nbbusinessjournal.canadaeast.com/gleaner/article/1455980