Opposition leader wants more scrutiny of projects like ATV trail clearing

P.E.I.'s Opposition Green leader saysthe provincial environment department should bescrutinizing some Island construction projects more closely, and giving the public more opportunity to provide inputbefore they go ahead.

Peter Bevan-Baker came to that conclusion after walking a new ATV trail cleared through the woods in West Prince a project which has led to a $1000 fine against the Evangeline ATV club, and concerns from some people in the area about soil runoff into waterways.

Bevan-Baker saidenvironment officials only visited the new trailand discovered problemsafter people who live nearby saw bulldozers and excavators in the woods, and reported their concerns tothe department.

"So it was[residents] that proactively went out and discovered this destruction through the forest. We need to do better than that," said Bevan-Baker.

The president of the ATVclub, JP Gallant, told CBC he did have writtenpermission from threelandowners to clear the two-kilometre-long, six-metre-wide trailacross their wooded properties.

He also got a permit from the environment department to installthree bridges across brooks along the trail.

We give out hundreds of permits in a given year ...and we can't be everywhere- Todd Dupuis, P.E.I. executive director of climate change and environment

But after inspectingthe trailfollowing complaints from the public, environment officials discovered the clubhad violated the terms of that permit.

Gallant saidhe installed two culverts at crossings where there should have been bridges, and hadn't taken all the requiredmeasures to limit soil runoff.The club's since been ordered to take those measures by Sept. 15, and that work is underway.

'Underfunded, understaffed'

But Bevan-Baker saidthe club's mistakeslikely would have been avoided if environment officials had visited the project site during trail clearing.

"I see a department which is underfunded, understaffed, and doesn't have the capability or capacity to carry out those sorts of ongoing checking of projects as they go forward," said Bevan-Baker.

Todd Dupuis, executive director of climate change and environment,said there is a small team in the department. "We give out hundreds of permits in a given year four or five hundred permits and we can't be everywhere."

Dupuis saiddepartment staff do checks"once in a while" during construction, though didn't get to the new ATV trail.

In a statement to CBC, the department saidit was planning to visitthe trail site and audit the project this fall, as happens with 20 per cent of projects where permits are issued.

Dupuissaidmore intensive department supervision is reserved for "monster projects" like the Cornwall bypass project.

Projects that largealso require environmental impact assessmentsand public consultations before they're approved.

Need for public input?

Bevan-Baker maintains projects like the ATV club's trail construction should require a scaled-down environmental assessmentand a chance for public input as well.

"I think we need some mechanism to allow local residents, watershed groups and concerned citizens to be at least informed of what's going on here so that they can have some input into whether this is an appropriate thing to have in their neighborhood," said Bevan-Baker.

"Yes it may be happening on a private piece of property. But when you interfere with and violate a water course there are quite literally downstream and upstream effects from that affecting neighbouring property owners."

The Opposition leader saidhe'll likely pushfor changes to environmental regulationsin the fall sitting of the legislature.

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