Still Waiting for Boat Harbour Cleanup

PICTOU–The news of more delays in the cleanup of Boat Harbour, near Pictou, Nova Scotia, is totally unacceptable, says the Green Party of Canada.  Residents of the area have been promised a cleanup numerous times but have yet to see any action.  “That Boat Harbour is still having such a significant impact on the coastline and the community is totally outrageous,” said Green Leader Elizabeth May. “The pollution daily violates the federal Fisheries Act and cannot be allowed to slide any longer.”

Boat Harbour has been used as a settling pond for millions of litres of effluent from the Abercrombie Point pulp mill for more than 40 years, with many promises made to cleanup what has become a smelly and toxic area.  The Mi’kmaq people of Pictou Landing are now threatening legal action against the province and the pulp mill, trying to get some action.  Tests of the sediment in the harbour have shown high concentrations of extremely toxic chemicals, including dioxins, furans, mercury and cadmium.

“The proposed solution, which wasn’t really a solution at all, was to let a pipe take the contaminants into the sea,” said May.  “Surely we can come up with a better solution to this problem than to contribute to further contamination of our oceans.  Now there are vague promises of a new treatment plant but the community is still waiting for something concrete.  In the meantime, we must not continue to add effluent into this already highly contaminated estuary.”

The province of Nova Scotia currently allows the pulp mill to put effluent into the harbour with a monthly license.  The province also recently awarded the mill’s current owner, Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corporation, a $15 million loan to keep them afloat.  The former provincial government had made promises that Boat Harbour as a treatment site would be shut down and had apparently been looking at other sites that could ‘host’ the sludge.

“Where is the accountability? Technically the Department of Environment is responsible for the effluent due to all of the deals that have been made regarding this mill,” said May.  “Why isn’t the pulp mill being regulated properly and modernized, as has been done elsewhere?  Where is the compensation for non-First Nations residents who have been impacted by this travesty? Why is this rural area being subjected to this kind of environmental devastation?  This community deserves some answers and more importantly, some action.”

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Contact:
Michael Bernard
Communications Officer
Green Party of Canada
613-562-4916 ext. 244
(c) 613-614-4916
michael.bernard@greenparty.ca

Still Waiting for Boat Harbour Cleanup