A final decision on the fate of a pulp mill and thousands of forest industry jobs is set to come down on Tuesday, Nova Scotia’s environment minister announced on Monday.
A technical briefing on the government’s decision whether to approve Northern Pulp‘s proposal for a new wastewater facility will be provided to media at 11 a.m. If approved, the proposed facility would pump millions of litres of treated effluent directly into the Northumberland Strait.
Nova Scotia Environment Minister Gordon Wilson will then make a statement and take media questions.
Wilson has three options before him: reject the pipeline proposal outright, accept it with conditions or ask for further information.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia communities await decision on contentious pulp mill pipeline proposal
The announcement came only minutes after federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson released his decision “not to designate the Northern Pulp project for a federal impact assessment.”
Wilkinson says he considered the potential for the project to “cause adverse effects within federal jurisdiction… public concern related to these effects, as well as adverse impacts on the Aboriginal and treaty rights of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada” and determined that designating it for review is “unwarranted.”
Wilkinson says his decision considered an analysis by the Impact Assesment Agency of Canada (IAAC), which found the proposed wastewater facility had the “potential to cause adverse effects… including impacts to fish and fish habitat.”
The IAAC analysis also found the project had the potential to cause adverse effects on “Indigenous fisheries in the Northumberland Strait.”
However, the ultimate conclusion was that federal regulations and the provincial environmental assessment will be sufficient to address those concerns.
Northern Pulp’s pipeline proposal has met with stiff resistance from First Nations and fishermen, who say the treated waste could harm the lucrative lobster and herring industries in the strait.
Northern Pulp has said the treated effluent will meet federal regulations for emissions.
While it’s true that more than 2,500 jobs hang in the balance, Wilson said his decision will include other factors.
“The primary role of a regulator is to ensure that any decision that I make is based on science and best evidence,” he said after a cabinet meeting Thursday. “Certainly, there are other factors.”
However, even if Wilson approves the project, Northern Pulp won’t have enough time to build the facility before another deadline arrives.
Under provincial legislation passed in 2015, the mill must stop dumping effluent into lagoons near the Pictou Landing First Nation as of Jan. 31 — though there is speculation the province may extend that deadline to keep the mill open.
READ MORE: Key decision on fate of Nova Scotia’s Northern Pulp mill could come any day
In the past, Premier Stephen McNeil has said he intends to stick with the original deadline given the fact that Northern Pulp has had five years to shut down the lagoons at Boat Harbour.
The Boat Harbour Act was drafted after a serious effluent spill at the Pictou Landing First Nation in June 2014.
“Nothing has changed,” McNeil said Thursday. “I look forward to hearing from the regulator.”
— With files from the Canadian Press
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