Government appealing Supreme Court decision on environmental assessment for Placentia Bay salmon farm

The Newfoundland and Labrador government has announced its intent to appeal a Supreme Courtdecision to require a full environmental assessment for a proposed aquaculture project in Placentia Bay.

The news does not surprise the Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF), the organization which took the government to court in the first place.

"We know that the province does not want this project or any aquaculture project to go through an environmental assessment," says Steve Sutton, ASF's co-ordinator of community engagement.

"I think they are terrified of what will come out if a company is forced to open their plans or open up this industry to the kind of public scrutiny that an environmental impact statementrequires."

'A duty owed to the people of the province'

GriegNL, a Norwegian-ownedcompany with salmon farming operations in Norway, Scotland and British Columbia, wants to set up a salmon farming operation in Placentia Bay. It would be one of the biggest salmon farming operations in the country, more than doubling the province's current annual farmed salmon production.

The provincereleased the project from an environmental impact statement (EIS) in July, 2016. An EIS would require a full assessment of the project's possible environmental impacts and problems as well as strategies to minimize the impacts.

A month later, that decision was appealed by the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

It took the case to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, andwon.Justice Gillian Butler ruled that a full EIS was required, saying that "such a duty [was] owed to the people of the province."

Now the provincial government is appealing that decision.

Past projects exempted

Three other salmon farming operations have been released from an EIS in the past: The Hopeall Fish Farm Hatchery in Trinity Bay, the Stephenville Indian Head Salmon Hatchery, and the St. Alban's Salmon Hatchery, operated by Cold Ocean Salmon, Inc., a subsidiary of Cooke Aquaculture.

Sutton saidthe government released those projects from an EIS because nobody fought them on it.

"They got away with it because nobody stood up and said, hey, your legislation says if a project may have environmental impacts it must go through environmental assessment," he said. "So our contention is that the development of the industry until now has not been consistent with the province's environmental legislation."

Sutton saidhe's confident that the ASF had a good case and says that even if the decision gets overturned, they'll keep fighting for a complete environmental assessment.