N.S. to spend $19M to dredge Boat Harbour after Northern Pulp fails to submit cleanup plan

Nova Scotia is spending $19 million to remove sludge from Boat Harbourafter Northern Pulp missed a second deadline to submit a plan for cleaning upthe waste.

"We cannot continue to wait. Taking one management approach makes good sense to ensure it's managed in a responsible way and timelines stay on track," Lloyd Hines, minister responsible for Nova Scotia Lands, said in a news release Monday.

The Pictou County pulp millhalted production in January 2020 after the provincial government refused its application to build a new treatment facility that would have pumped treated effluent into the Northumberland Strait.

Northern Pulp was thenresponsible for removing the contaminated sludge depositedin the aeration stabilizationbasin.

The provincial government ordered the companyto develop a decommissioning plan outlining the removal and disposal of all solid waste around the facilityby no later than Aug. 1, 2020.

After failing to submit a plan, the company was provided an extension to Feb. 28, 2021. A complete plan still hasn't been submitted, according to the news release.

The release said without an approved decommissioning plan, there is a significant risk it could overlap with the province's $292-million Boat Harbour remediation project, further delaying the cleanup.

The province said it will dredge and dispose of the sludge toensure the job is completed efficiently and to provide "clarity and closure"to Pictou Landing First Nation, which has beena neighbour to the effluent facility since the mid-1960s.

"Our ultimate goal is to return Boat Harbour, or A'se'k, to its original state as a tidal estuary," Hines said."It's a commitment to the people of Pictou Landing First Nation and Pictou County and we intend to keep it."

The cleanup is expected to begin in 2022 once the federal government completes and approvesits environmental assessment process.

Northern Pulp did not address in a statement it issued Tuesday the responsibility it bearsfor potentially delaying the cleanup.

"Northern Pulp Nova Scotia is pleased to collaborate with Nova Scotia Lands Inc. on the safe and environmentally sound remediation of Boat Harbour," the company said.

The companysaid it submitted a draft decommissioning plan to Nova Scotia Lands on the Feb. 28deadline.

"During follow-up discussions, it was determined that the most effective way to achieve our common goal of remediating Boat Harbour is to have a single unified approach, instead of two independent projects."