Pictou

Nova Scotia Premier rejects pulp mill’s request to keep dumping waste water near First Nation

Nova Scotia Premier rejects pulp mill’s request to keep dumping waste water near First Nation

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has sided against a pulp mill’s plea for a lifeline in a move that has bitterly split his province, earning praise from environmental, fisheries and Indigenous groups, but angering many in the province’s forestry sector. The Northern Pulp mill in Pictou had been asking for an extension on a provincially imposed deadline to stop dumping contaminated wastewater in Boat Harbour, next to the Pictou Landing First Nation, in what many have called one of the province’s worst examples of pollution linked to racism.

Pulp mill 'at risk,' CEO says after N.S. review of contentious wastewater plan

Pulp mill 'at risk,' CEO says after N.S. review of contentious wastewater plan

The future of a Nova Scotia pulp mill remained uncertain Friday as the province asked for more work on its contentious proposal to pipe 85 million litres of its treated wastewater into the Northumberland Strait. The Northern Pulp paper mill has become a flashpoint, with its plan to pump waste into rich fishing grounds pitting forest industry workers against fishermen, environmentalists and even the P.E.I. government — which opposes the plan due to concerns over the impact on lobster harvesting.

Northern Pulp's plans for pipeline, effluent treatment plant now public

Northern Pulp's plans for pipeline, effluent treatment plant now public

Nova Scotians now have access to the details of Northern Pulp's controversial plan to build a new effluent treatment plant and discharge pipeline that will empty into the Northumberland Strait. The plan put forward to the Environment Department is to build a "biological activated sludge" treatment facility purchased from a Paris-based multinational corporation called Veolia Water Technologies.

Pictou officials learned of Northern Pulp pipe route from media reports

Pictou officials learned of Northern Pulp pipe route from media reports

Representatives for the town of Pictou, N.S., did not learn the proposed route for a new effluent pipe from Northern Pulp would cross their watershed until the plan was made public in media reports. Officials from the pulp mill met with Pictou Landing First Nation officials and fishermen's associations several weeks ago to detail the new proposed route after problems were discovered with the original route.