2009 Focus Report Submissions
November 2009

 

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NS Provincial Election 2009:

- Tories & Grits miss
APWPS All-Candidate Forum

-Review the all party report cards on environment
@ www.nsen.ca

 

March 17th:, 2008

Minister Parent orders focus report - letter

APWPS Response: Second Strike for Fundy Gypsum

 

March 8th

Finally, there is a fine way to punish polluters

TORONTO -- The fine was small - ludicrously small in the opinion of some people - but it showed that Ontario has a new weapon in doing battle with corporate polluters.The $9,000 penalty levied last week against CGC Inc. of Hagersville, operator of a gypsum drywall plant, for failing to comply with environmental laws attracted little notice, but it made history. The fine was the first under new legislation that does not rely on the courts but instead hands out penalties the way a parking-enforcement officer sticks a yellow ticket under a windshield wiper. [The Globe and Mail p A11]

Full story here

FGC = CGC = USG
Same company

What would Ontario fine the company for
having 11 times the acceptable DoE level for oil and
grease in its final discharge at Miller's Creek on the Avon Peninsula?

March 6th

APWPS submits "Citizen's Assessment" to the Department of Environment and Labour.

We would like to thank those who submitted comments together with our members. We are so grateful for the time you took out of your busy life to do so.

If you would like to receive a copy of our response to the proponent's proposal, please email info[at]apwps.ca

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Excerpt from NS Standing Committee on
Economic Development, Sept 2000:

Rep from Georgia Pacific: Well, speaking for our company, I have done a lot of exploration in Atlantic Canada. I have looked at probably most of the deposits in Nova Scotia and some in New Brunswick and Newfoundland. I know our competitors, National and USG have done the same thing. I would say they are pretty well documented.

MR. EPSTEIN: Yes, so at this point you are not really expecting any more gypsum mines to be proposed, is that right?

Rep from GP: I would be surprised if you would see any more gypsum quarries developed in Nova Scotia forever.

MR. EPSTEIN: That is my understanding, too.

...

Rep from GP: It is difficult to find a deposit of any size that is outside of a watershed or outside of a municipal population. To find a deposit of gypsum with 30 million or 40 million tons in it that you can develop in Nova Scotia is difficult, because as you know there are only limited areas where gypsum occurs.

APWPS says Guess where it occurs: in our watershed and municipal area!!!

YouTube videos:

SOS [ turn speakers on mid-range]
Earth Day 2007 in West Hants

West Hants Mine locations [PDF]

Feb 28th:

N.S. doing poor job protecting
environment says Auditor General

Feb 27th

Support HEALTHY & VIBRANT COMMUNITIES as the
basis for a HEALTHY & VIBRANT ECONOMY and sign the
online petition at www.apwps.ca

Please make public comment to the NS Department of
Environment and Labour before March 6th here

(Please note your comments will be a matter of public record)

Feb 26th

Great News for Windsor!!! -- Wheels turning at Mill Island 

Construction on the widely-anticipated Mill Island development in Windsor is due to start next week. The project’s co-ordinator, Cathy Cox, says that over $9 million dollars worth of construction will see the first floor retail section finished on May 15th and open for business soon thereafter.  “There will be lots of activity going on here and it will be a great tax-base for the Town of Windsor,” says Cox. The retail area includes the bookstore, gallery, the pub and brewery and will create over 150 jobs, she said. “But the construction will see much more than 150 jobs initially – many more jobs.” Titan Construction, based in Burnside but owned by Annapolis Valley resident Ron Ernst, will oversee the project.

Thought for the day:

"People who are equally informed seldom disagree."

 

Feb 23, 2008:

Review of excerpt from APWPS letter to Fundy Gypsum Plant Management dated March 21, 2007.

"The APWPS has a more positive vision for the future, one which builds on the considerable assets this area is blessed with, including the green aspirations and initiatives of many local residents and businesses, as articulated by our government’s new Environmental Goals and Sustainable Prosperity Act: a vision of economic prosperity and quality of life based on a mixture of traditional knowledge, innovation, entrepreneurship, local value-added production and respect for our landscapes and the human and natural communities that live in them.

As you know the APWPS is committed to working with you, our many community partners and all interested parties to help realize this vision. It is unfortunate that [...the company] declined to meet with the numerous stakeholders impacted by your proposed [project], including the APWPS, in the forum proposed by the Hants Regional Development Authority, where this discussion might have begun."

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Feb 22, 2008 Statement

"The Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society (APWPS) has been made aware that Fundy Gypsum finally submitted their application to operate a new open-pit mine in the Avon Peninsula Watershed in Hants County.

Over the past couple of years, our community has expressed great concern about the impact of this proposed project and the entire gypsum industry in this area. We’ll review Fundy Gypsum’s proposal to drastically alter the future of our coastal community and respond accordingly.

Recent approvals of the Moose River and Gays River mining projects clearly demonstrate that Class 1 Environmental Assessments look at these projects through a filtered-telescope. Residents in our community expect and deserve a magnifying glass - a full independent review from a government who pledged to protect our families, our futures, our homes.

Of course, our concerns include environmental issues, but this is also about supporting sustainable economic development and protecting things ordinary people invest and take pride in."

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Feb 22, 2008:

This is to advise that on February 21, 2008, CGC Inc., Fundy Gypsum Plant - CGC Inc registered a surface gypsum mine for environmental assessment, in accordance with Part IV of the Environment Act.

Copies of the environmental assessment registration information may be examined at the following locations:

Fundy Gypsum Main Office – 669 Wentworth Road, Hants County

Municipality of the District of West Hants Building, 76 Morison Drive, Windsor,

Hants County Hantsport Town Hall, Main Street, Hantsport, Hants County

Windsor Regional Library, 195 Albert Street, Windsor, Hants County

Brooklyn Fire Hall, 995 Highway 215, Brooklyn, Hants County

Clean Nova Scotia, 126 Portland Street, Dartmouth

NS Ecology Action Centre, 2705 Fern Lane, Halifax

NS Nova Scotia Environment & Labour, Regional Office - Bedford

Nova Scotia Environment & Labour, 5th Floor Library, 5151 Terminal Road, Halifax,

NS EA website (when available) at www.gov.ns.ca/enla/ea

The public is invited to submit written comments to:
Environmental Assessment Branch
Nova Scotia Environment & Labour
P.O. Box 697, Halifax, NS, B3J 2T8

On or before March 6, 2008 or contact the department at (902) 424-3230, (902) 424-0503 (Fax), or e-mail at EA@gov.ns.ca.

All submissions received, including contact information, will be made available for public review in the Nova Scotia Environment & Labour Library, 5th floor, Halifax Office, 5151 Terminal Road.

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S.O.S for West Hants - Grab a lifejacket!
Rally November 21, 2007
10 am in Windsor
Contact us for more details!

Nova Scotians from across the province are uniting to let the Provincial Government know that we are unhappy with their apathy about the environment. We wish to send them a distress signal – a wake-up call – this is a call for action by our government on environmental stewardship. Let the House of Assembly know that we, the people of Nova Scotia, wish our government to listen to us.

MANY VOICES, ONE MESSAGE
Across this Province – from Digby to Cape Breton

The Strength of Seven (S.O.S)

S.O.S. Digby Annapolis Kentville Windsor Halifax Trenton Sydney

"The government is genuinely interested in moving forward
with a green agenda," MacDonald said as the House wrapped
up its Spring session. "And we can be held accountable
on that agenda." (The Daily News, 14/04/07)

July 16: Archeological Trust of NS and Shaw Family
Protect Thibodeau Village in Poplar Grove