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Feds delay decision on potential Northern Pulp review

Canada’s new environment minister has delayed his decision on whether the federal government will review Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent treatment plan.

According to The Star, Jonathan Wilkinson has pushed the Nov. 26 deadline to Dec. 20, saying he needs more time to examine the file since coming into the Environment and Climate Change office Nov. 20.

Wilkinson is reviewing several requests made under the recently enacted Impact Assessment Act that ask the federal government to conduct an independent review of Northern Pulp’s plan for a new drainage pipe.

The Paper Excellence–owned mill in Abercrombie, N.S. has been ordered by the province of Nova Scotia to remove its effluent treatment pipe from its current location, which runs near the Pictou Landing First Nation and into Boat Harbour, by January 31, 2020.

The mill’s proposed replacement plan includes a new effluent treatment facility constructed on Northern Pulp property. A 15.5-kilometre water pipe would deliver treated effluent to Caribou Harbour, in the Northumberland Strait.

On Oct. 2, Northern Pulp submitted a focus report to the province with additional details about the drainage pipe’s environmental impact. The report has been decried as insufficient by local groups.

The mill’s plan is currently under review by province’s environmental assessment agency, with a decision due on whether or not the mill will be able to proceed with construction by Dec. 17.

Source: The Star