Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton addressing a meeting last month at the Midgic Baptist Church
Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton says she’s not surprised that the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) has decided no further federal review is needed for the proposed 500 MW gas/diesel generating plant on the Chignecto Isthmus.
“The decision is not unexpected,” Mitton said today in a telephone interview, “but it certainly wasn’t what I was hoping for.”
She added that it’s now more important than ever that the province launch its own comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA).
“I really don’t get the sense that they want to do a comprehensive EIA,” Mitton said, referring to a letter she received from Environment Minister Gilles LePage in which he noted that “comprehensive reviews are generally required for large scale projects like mines, refineries, nuclear power, etc.”
“However, I strongly believe that they should do a comprehensive review that would include the potential impact on human health,” she added.
IAAC decision
In its decision released today, the Impact Assessment Agency indicated it was satisfied by the American company PROENERGY’s responses to concerns raised by Indigenous groups, members of the public and a wide-range of environmental organizations.
The company, that would build and operate the big generating plant, promised “to continue its engagement with Indigenous communities and organizations and provide responses to their questions and concerns.”
It also promised to incorporate a Mi’gmaq Rights Impact Assessment into the project and address concerns about potential effects on moose, black ash and bald eagles — species that the Impact Agency identified as culturally significant species for Mi’kmaq.
PROENERGY provided the following response to concerns about the potential effects on migratory birds:
Left-hand column outlines concerns noted by the IAAC with the right column listing PROENERGY’s responses
Barry Rothfuss, executive director of the Atlantic Wildlife Institute, says it’s disappointing that the Impact Assessment Agency ignored many of the concerns raised in 270 public comments that included detailed ones from organizations such as Birds Canada, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society and the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
Rothfuss himself filed a formal complaint with the Impact Assessment Agency over PROENERGY’s erroneous claim that the Mi’kmaq were co-owners of the project.
He says the IAAC responded that they have referred his complaint to their legal division.
“Even if it’s already been approved and moved on, they’re still accountable under the law for making false claims within their proposal,” he adds.
“So, that may catch up with them later on.”
Megan Mitton says she’s also concerned about the misrepresentation of Indigenous support for the project.
“I think that’s extremely problematic and is yet another reason that the premier should help pull the plug on this gas plant,” she says.
Again I ask what is the official geographic boundaries of the Chignecto Isthmus; North, East, South and West?
Macx:
“The isthmus separates the waters of Chignecto Bay, a sub-basin of the Bay of Fundy, from those of Baie Verte, a sub-basin of the Northumberland Strait that is an arm of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The isthmus stretches from its northerly point at an area in the Petitcodiac River valley near the city of Dieppe, New Brunswick to its southerly point at an area near the town of Amherst, Nova Scotia. At its narrowest point between Amherst and Tidnish, the isthmus measures 24 kilometres (15 mi) wide. Because of its strategic position, it has been important to competing forces through much of its history of occupation.
The majority of the lands comprising the isthmus have low elevation above sea level; a large portion comprises the Tantramar Marshes, as well as tidal rivers, mud flats, inland freshwater marshes, coastal saltwater marshes, and mixed forest. Several prominent ridges rise above the surrounding low land and marshes along the Bay of Fundy shore, namely the Fort Lawrence Ridge (in Nova Scotia), the Aulac Ridge, the Sackville Ridge, and the Memramcook Ridge (in New Brunswick).
In contrast to the Bay of Fundy shoreline in the west, the Northumberland Strait shoreline in the east is largely forested, with serpentine tidal estuaries such as the Tidnish River penetrating inland. The narrowest point on the Northumberland shoreline is opposite the Cumberland Basin at Baie Verte. If sea levels were to rise by 12 metres (40 feet), the isthmus would be flooded, effectively making mainland Nova Scotia an island.[1]”
— Wikipedia.
“Only 21 kilometres wide at its narrowest, the isthmus separates two large bodies of water: Chignecto Bay, a sub-basin of the Bay of Fundy, and the Northumberland Strait, an arm of the Gulf St. Lawrence, on the Atlantic Ocean. The approximately 50-kilometre-long pinch-point area, located between Moncton and Amherst, is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the severe effects of climate change, and it is one of the most susceptible areas to rising sea levels in all of Canada.”
— From the Nature Conservatory of Canada
https://connectiviteecologique.com/sites/default/files/project_files/NCC_Chignecto_Isthmus_Connectivity_2018.pdf
— Map with legend on page 5 of the PDF, published 2018
“The Isthmus is a narrow, 24 kilometre strip of land that joins mainland Nova Scotia to New Brunswick and the rest of the continent. It has two distinct coasts – to the northeast is the Northumberland Strait and on the southwest is the Bay of Fundy. The towns of Amherst, NS and Sackville, NB are located on the Isthmus itself.”
— Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/ab6bc0da0a424b069def013d424758f0
“Because of the ecological significance of the region, it was selected as Community-Nominated Priority Place (CNPP) as part of Canada’s Nature Fund . The Nature Conservancy of Canada is currently coordinating a joint conservation plan to address some of the threats to wildlife on the Isthmus. The purpose of the Chignecto/Sikniktewaq Partnership is to bring together a diversity of views to develop and implement a collaborative plan to conserve Species at Risk (SAR), the broader biodiversity and Mi’kmaq cultural heritage of the Chignecto Isthmus.”
— Contains an map image of Community Nominated Priority Place
“Description of the Isthmus of Chignecto
The Isthmus of Chignecto runs from the Valley of Petitcodiac River in the northern point near the Dieppe city in New Brunswick and stretches to the region near the town of Amherst in Nova Scotia in the south. The isthmus has the narrowest point between Tidnish and Amherst where it measures about 16 miles wide. The isthmus is located in a strategic point and has been the center of contention for different competing powers throughout the history of its settlement. The name of the isthmus is derived from the Mikmaq language name Siknikt which means drainage place. It is also the name of the Mikmaq district where isthmus is located.”
— World Atlas
Hope those help.
It’s debatable exactly what’s part of the isthmus, since an isthmus is just a narrow area connecting two land masses that would otherwise be separated by water without the isthmus.
This map show the approximate location
https://cpawsnb.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Chignecto.jpg
Where the “boundaries” are is a question that is open to opinion. From an ecological view, someone could define Chignecto as a group of connected habitats extending off the isthmus. A definition based on watersheds would be different. A definition based on geology would be different again. A definition based on traditional indigenous territory would be different. Any definition that tries to rope in all of these factors is going to be arbitrary.
Whether the power plant is precisely on the isthmus or not is not really relevant to the debate over safety, efficiency, alternatives, US ownership, or NB Power’s evasion of public oversight.
In 2012 the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources made it very clear what is considered the accepted location and boundaries of Chignecto Isthmus when it purchased a strip of land pertaining to the Chignecto Ship Railway project (1880s) that is within the boundaries of the Isthmus. It should be noted in the attached link, there is no mention of any other property/land anywhere that could be considered part of the historic strip of land between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia known as the “The Chignecto Isthmus”
Boundaries are determined by surveys and measurements made throughout history not by using the flight path of a flog nature’s wonderful creators.
https://novascotia.ca/natr/land/chignecto2012/chignecto2012.asp