#NOPIPE

The Friends of Northumberland Strait are asking people who are concerned about Northern Pulp’s plan to pump treated mill effluent directly into the Northumberland Strait for some help: write Catherine McKenna, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change to have the project reviewed federally, which would ensure a much more thorough assessment than the Class 1 Provincial EA.

Say The Friends, “The decision to conduct this environmental assessment is made by the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change. In making her decision, she will consider a number of things, including whether this is an issue of broad public concern.”

Using an online form on the FNS website makes it easy to send an e-mail; if the default message content* is used, all it takes is inserting your name, e-mail etc; alternatively, you can add a few words or replace the entire text with your own which makes the letter count even more.

By the way, Matt Dort’s petition Save The Northumberland Strait – Protect our Atlantic Salmon and Sea Trout is now up to 16,124. Please sign that one too if you have’t already.

By the way #2: Writing in the Halifax Examiner, award winning investigative journalist Linda Pannozzo provides a lot of factual detail about The Mill’s plans in Dirty Dealing:

Part 1 (Northern Pulp mill and the province are set to roll the dice with Boat Harbour’s replacement, but a cleaner alternative exists, Nov 22, 2017)

Part 2 (Wading through the quagmire of Northern Pulp’s fast-tracked environmental assessment, Feb 13, 2018)

Part 3 (Elevated levels of cancer-causing air emissions coming from Abercrombie pulp mill, peer-reviewed study reveals, Mar 8, 2018). and

Part 4 (Message control and the northern pulp mill’s cancer-causing air emissions, Apr 26, 2018; Part 4 was just removed from the paywall.)

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*The default message content is also a concise summary of why we all need to be concerned about the Northern Pulp Plan:

Dear Minister:

Re: Request for Designation for CEAA Federal Assessment – Northern Pulp Effluent Treatment Facility

I am writing to support the request from fishermen’s organizations from Nova Scotia, PEI and New Brunswick and Pictou Landing First Nation to have Northern Pulp’s Effluent Treatment Project designated a project for Federal Environmental Assessment under Section 14 of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA) 2012.

I am very concerned about the harm to fish and fish habitat that could result from Northern Pulp’s proposal to discharge 70-90 million litres of treated effluent from a bleached kraft mill every day through a 10.5k pipe into the prime fishing grounds of the Northumberland Strait.

Thousands of families from all three provinces, including First Nation communities in those provinces, make their living from these fisheries. Many fishermen come from families which have fished for generations. They have made changes to help keep our waters clean, so that their children and grandchildren can fish also. Owner-operator fishermen are an important part of our regional economies. Fishermen generate many jobs in our communities. They buy their supplies locally, and they spend their profits locally.

I am also concerned about the continued health of the Northumberland Strait, which attracts thousands of tourists, visitors and summer residents who fish, dive, swim and boat in its beautiful waters. The Northumberland Strait is a key part of life and the economy of Pictou County and draws people to our area.

I am further concerned about the health of people living close to Northern Pulp. For decades air emissions from the mill have been a problem affecting residents’ health and local businesses. Northern Pulp has frequently failed stack emission tests. The new treatment proposal would add additional air emissions to an already bad situation.

I believe this project requires a more rigorous review than it will receive from the province of Nova Scotia, which has decided to require only a Class 1, 50-day review, including only 30 days for public comment.

The government’s past handling of effluent from this mill has resulted in one of the most contaminated sites in Canada, Boat Harbour. I want to see a strong, science based review of this project which will protect the present and future health of our Strait and the economy which depends on healthy waters.