The federal environment minister never told the province that she’s considering taking over the environmental assessment process for Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent treatment plant.
At an announcement in Bridgewater on Wednesday, Premier Stephen McNeil told reporters he hadn’t been informed federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna had requested a new recommendation from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada on whether the federal government should take over the environmental assessment process.
“We’ve had two fisheries ministers, the prime minister, recognizing this is a provincial jurisdiction,” said McNeil.
“We are proceeding. The company’s working hard to try to get something that’s permanent and we’re proceeding as (if) that will fall under our environmental assessment.”
Kathy Cloutier confirmed Wednesday that the mill expects to provide the focus report demanded as part of the provincial environmental assessment process by month’s end.
“With over 90 per cent of the field work (data gathering, etc) complete, the company is on track to file the focus report, which will meet requirements established by the terms of reference by the end of September,” the spokeswoman for Northern Pulp parent Paper Excellence said in a written statement.
That response to the provincial Environment Department will kick-start a 30-day public consultation period. Then department staff will have 25 days to provide a recommendation to provincial Environment Minister Gordon Wilson on whether to greenlight the controversial facility.
Meanwhile, McKenna’s request to the Impact Assessment Agency gives her 90 days to make a decision on whether to override a provincial process that is nearly complete.
“The environment minister had time to act,” said Betsy MacDonald, NDP candidate for the Central Nova riding.
“Instead she chose to stand by while the province went through with a quicker and less thorough review. Calling for another review this close to the Boat Harbour Act (deadline of Jan. 31, 2020) does nothing but muddy the water when we are this close to a federal election.”
The federal election is scheduled for Oct. 21.
Timing questioned
While Central Nova’s Conservative candidate George Canyon couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon, Green candidate Barry Randle joined MacDonald in chastising the federal environment minister.
“(Green Party leader Elizabeth May) presented a petition with over 4,500 signatures in the house last winter asking for a federal assessment,” said Randle.
“It’s really interesting that they are all of a sudden holding out the card that ‘We might do one under this new amendment to the act after the election.’”
The recommendation from the Impact Assessment Agency — formerly the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency — will actually be the second to the minister.
The last recommendation, which McKenna’s office won’t release and hasn’t acted on, was received in March. A heavily redacted copy of it received by The Chronicle Herald, via an access to information request, stated that the agency had received 3,200 requests from organizations and individuals in Atlantic Canada asking for the feds to take over. Most of those cited a perceived conflict of interest by the province as its contractual obligations to Northern Pulp mean that it will end up funding a large portion of the cost of the new facility and may be on the hook for the company’s lost profits if the mill is forced to shut.
Liberal Central Nova MP Sean Fraser told The Chronicle Herald on Tuesday that McKenna ordered the review in consideration of changes to the Impact Assessment Act that came into place on Aug. 28. Among other things, they demand more attention be placed on whether a proposed project negatively impacts a First Nation community.
Chief Andrea Paul of the Pictou Landing First Nation presented to lawmakers in Ottawa as part of the crafting of the new Act.
The existing provincially owned effluent treatment plant leased to the mill is located directly behind her community. Paul and her council have remained opposed to any extention of the Boat Harbour Act that would allow the facility to continue to operate past its legislated closure of Jan. 31, 2020.
Meanwhile, Northern Pulp can’t operate without a new effluent treatment plant.
The one it is proposing would take about 21 months to construct if environmental approval is granted by the province this fall.
A federal assessment, if ultimately ordered by McKenna, would add at least another year before construction could begin.
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