Three Strikes

Three current stories in the news highlight the ineffective policies of NS Department of Environment and Climate Change and NS Department of Natural Resources and Renewables

Both have promising names, neither has a good record.

The first story has three parts, all involving fire engines:

May 20, 2022 CBC Crews have put out a fire at a scrapyard in the Burnside industrial park in Dartmouth, N.S.

The fire began late Friday morning and crews were packing up to leave at about 6:15 p.m. AT.
"Streets are all open and all restrictions are off. There's no smoke anymore," said Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency district Chief Pat Kline in a phone interview shortly after 6 p.m.
Kline said Environment Canada was at the site to monitor for any contamination. He said a boom was set up by the Bedford Basin to prevent any oil residue from getting in and that it will be watched over the weekend.

Saltwire Feb 15, 2022 PARADISE, N.S. — Fire destroyed a building at a metal recycling depot in Paradise on Feb. 14.
The Bridgetown Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire at ScrapCo Atlantic Metal Recyclers, located on Highway 1, at 3:36 a.m.

CBC Sept 7, 2018 A major underground fire was burning Friday at a construction and demolition debris site in Nova Scotia's Annapolis County.
The Arlington Heights C&D Landfill near Bridgetown started burning around 7 a.m., but was considered under control by mid-afternoon.
Stephen Wade, chief of the Port Lorne and district fire department, said flames were no longer shooting above ground but the fire continued to burn 3½ metres underground.
Creosote lumber, vinyl siding and other buried construction debris were on fire, he said.
About 70 firefighters from eight fire halls were trying to put the fire out and expected to be on scene all day and possibly into the night. (this fire was theorized to be still burning a year later)

Oh yeah, the city folk got a text:

But not the country bumpkins......

A coincidence?   Nope.   In July 2021, the Deputy Minister admitted that an exception had been made.  

"The Arlington C&D and Asbestos Disposal Facility has been under investigation, which limited and delayed information that the department could provide.

The investigation was completed and Arlington C&D and Asbestos Disposal Facility was issued a warning for accepting material that was not approved by the department. In November of 2018, the department issued an amendment to the C&D Approval allowing a specific type of shredded C&D material to be used as an intermediate cover material at the site. The department had found that the unacceptable material had been incorporated with the construction and demolition (C&D) material. After reviewing the analytical data on the Autofluff and the water sample results, it was determined that the Autofluff is not expected to cause an adverse affect and the material will stay in place. Surface and ground water monitoring will be increased and reviewed more frequently. The facility is cooperating with the department and has obtained a third-party consultant to evaluate groundwater and surface water for additional parameters not included within their approval. The department is working with the facility to increase monitoring locations and expanding test parameters. Preliminary results have been provided and were reviewed by professional staff within the department. Additional monitoring and sampling are currently being conducted by the facility. A report with sampling results will also be reviewed by professional staff within the department. The department has the authority to extend or expand sampling requirements as necessary."

 The Second is an impending economic disaster

New York Times May 17, 2022  Europe Rethinks Its Reliance on Burning Wood for Electricity
A new proposal would significantly rewrite E.U. rules on renewable energy, ending subsidies for biomass like wood pellets. 

See this article in The Halifax Examiner:
Citizens concerned about climate change have for years opposed the government classifying biomass as “renewable energy” because clearcutting, which releases carbon from the ground, remains the dominant form of harvesting on Crown and private land. That’s despite ongoing work to begin implementing 2018 recommendations from Professor Bill Lahey to move toward a more ecological approach. 

Another $10 million bet on a loser.

 

Third and worst of all is the  decline of bird populations due to the murderous policy of clearcutting:

Saltwire, May 7, 2022:  A recently released paper, Forest degradation drives widespread avian habitat and population declines, by Matthew G. Betts and al., (Nature Ecology & Evolution 2022), is based on studies in Acadian type forests right here in the Maritimes. The conclusion is not something to be proud of. Our Acadian mixed forests have become severely degraded and, in many cases, replaced with coniferous softwoods or monoculture conifer plantations which are entirely unsuitable habitat for a good number of forest-dwelling bird species. Accordingly, populations of bird species that depend on Acadian type forests are dropping in sync with forest loss.

In his highly technical article, Betts says "Overall, our results indicate that forest degradation has led to habitat declines for the majority of forest bird species with negative consequences for bird populations, particularly species associated with older forest."

"habitat loss from logging has caused at least 33 million birds to disappear from the Maritimes since 1985." Betts said in this Information Morning interview.

Those departments are hereby renamed:

• DED - Department of Environmental Degradation
• WRONG  - Wasted Resources Of No Good