Northern Pulp got a long list of demands Tuesday from the Environment Department.
The operator of the kraft pulp mill in Abercrombie Point will have to answer the 35 pointed questions in a focus report as part of the environmental assessment process for its proposed new effluent treatment plant. The process began in January when Northern Pulp filed its 614-page registration document.
Among the province’s requirements are:
- A new route for the proposed pipe from the mill to Caribou that doesn’t follow along the shoulder of Highway 106 in accordance with demands from the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal.
- A complete physical and chemical characterization of both Northern Pulp’s raw effluent and the treated effluent that will be discharged 4.1 kilometres out into the Northumberland Strait.
- Baseline studies on the water into which the effluent will go and update the receiving water study with data on potential contaminants from the proposed treatment system.
- Additional assessments on the impact of treated effluent on fish.
- A human health risk assessment that must consider consumption of fish and other seafood, potentially contaminated drinking water, exposure to recreational water and sediment, outdoor air inhalation, and any other potential exposure pathways.
The long list of new studies and updates to existing ones will likely set back the already much delayed project. The Boat Harbour effluent treatment facility, owned by the province and leased to Northern Pulp, is legislated to close next January.
It’s expected the mill won’t be in a position to begin operating the new facility until next summer or fall.
“Over the coming weeks, Northern Pulp will review the details to determine timelines and other associated factors related to the additional information request,” said Kathy Cloutier, spokeswoman for mill parent company Paper Excellence.
The mill has one year to provide responses to the Environment Department’s additional 35 questions. Then the department has 14 days to advertise a 30-day public consultation period, 25 days to consider the responses received and provide a recommendation to the minister.
AARON BESWICK'S NORTHERN PULP SERIES:
- Northern Pulp, Part 1: Successive governments signed away Nova Scotia taxpayers
- Northern Pulp, Part 2: A frightened forestry industry is tied to mill’s fate
- Northern Pulp, Part 3: Economic threat strains Pictou County’s social fabric
- Northern Pulp, Part Four: The Northumberland Strait is unhealthy and there’s blame to go around
