Environment minister stands by quarry decision

By Jonathan Riley

DIGBY COURIER

NovaNewsNow.com

Nova Scotia’s minister of Environment has no intention of revisiting his decision on the White Points quarry.

“There is no process for an appeal, there is no legislative trigger and I stand by my decision,” said Mark Parent this week.

Parent denied provincial approval to a 150-hectare quarry on Digby Neck last fall. His decision followed the recommendations of a joint provincial-federal panel that carried out an environmental assessment on the project. The federal minister of Fisheries and Oceans, Loyola Hearn also accepted the panel’s decision.

Last week reports surfaced that people working out of the Bilcon office in Little River were surveying residents how they felt about the quarry. Then Bilcon announced it had filed a notice of intent to seek $188 million in damages under NAFTA from the government of Canada.

The Digby Courier contacted Parent specifically to ask him about the possibility of him overturning his decision.

“There’s no way I’m going to revisit that decision. I stand by it.

“I looked at the panel’s recommendation and the EA branch looked at it, and I determined there were unacceptable risks to the environment and to the culture. And we felt those risks couldn’t be managed in a way that would allow the project to proceed.

“I didn’t blindly follow the recommendations of the panel. I had officials in my department, who are well-versed in environmental assessment, go through the recommendations to make sure they provided me with all the research.

“And I didn’t even blindly follow the advice of my own department. I made an informed decision that this project carried unacceptable risks.

“And a month later the federal minister made the same decision but on the subject of the wharf. We both came to the same decision.”

There has been no suggestion from Bilcon that they want the quarry decision overturned. Bilcon lawyer, Barry Appleton did say last week that the NAFTA calls for mediation and consultation before the two parties appear at hearings.

He said that the damages in this case could be “significantly higher” than the $188 million set out in the notice of intent.

“So the governments will have to decide if there is something they can do to settle the issue.”