By Jennifer Hoegg
The Hants Journal/NovaNewsNow.com
Fundy Gypsum needs to answer a few more questions before the Environment and Labour Department will approve its request for an expanded quarry on the Avon Peninsula.
In an environmental assessment decision announced March 17, Environment and Labour Minister Mark Parent requested that CGC Inc.-Fundy Gypsum provide a focus report on several elements of their proposal.
Parent said in a phone interview that, despite the 750-plus pages of the company’s submission, he did not have enough information to approve or reject the proposed mine extension.
“We ask for a focus report when we don’t have enough info on whether it would be environmentally safe to go ahead,” parent said. “When I don’t have enough information, I can’t decide one way or the other.”
The minister will request more information on potential impacts on species at risk, wetlands, surface and groundwater and fish habitat. The presence of several at-risk and one endangered plant species are of concern, he said.
In Parent’s response to Fundy Gypsum, the possibility of a federal environmental assessment is noted should fish habitat be found in Shaw Brook.
In response to concerns about the objectivity of documents prepared by the proponent company, Parent said his staff carefully reviews all submissions. “We examine every piece of information that comes in and put it through a very thorough screening.”
Process timetable
Under the province’s environmental assessment regulations, Parent has 25 days to provide Fundy Gypsum with terms of reference for the focus report. The company will have a year to submit documentation. A 30-day public consultation period and time for departmental consideration will follow. At the end of the process, the minister can approve, reject or call for full environmental assessment.
Company spokesperson Mike Bishop said Fundy Gypsum is “more than happy to comply” with the minister’s request and is waiting to see the terms of reference.
“Once we have those in front of us,” Bishop said, “we’ll be able to put together a plan to acquire that information.”
Fundy Gypsum is “well aware of the plant species at risk,” Bishop added, and has put forward plans to accommodate rare plants.
Bishop was unable to say yet whether the additional study will impact on the project's start time. Initially, the company planned to begin work at the site this year, but gypsum extraction would not begin until 2012.
Responding to the decision, Avon Peninsula Watershed Protection Society (APWPS) president Raymond Parker said he has mixed feelings. “It’s certainly a significant decision; we’re pleased that the minister has realized that the proposal is deficient.
Socio-economic factors
“On the other hand,” Parker said, “the minister has assured us in writing that socio-economic factors would be part of the EA so we’re surprised and disappointed that his decision doesn’t mention concerns in this respect.” Parker also expressed dismay that health concerns and sustainable development were not mentioned in the decision.
Parent maintains that he did not guarantee the Fundy Gypsum EA would incorporate socio-economic factors. However, he did say that there is “the ability to do so” under the regulations, as in the Bilcon/Digby neck quarry assessment. The focus report needs to come first, Parent said. “It doesn’t preclude something further being done, but it is premature for me to go further.”
APWPS members will follow the focus report process closely, Parker said. “This little peninsula that we live on is still very much at risk.”
Fundy Gypsum registered for a Class One environmental assessment of a 410-hectare surface mine adjacent to its current operations in Hants County in February. Registration documents and the minister’s decision are available at
www.gov.ns.ca
