Wednesday, February 23, 2022

Chronicle Herald, Voice of the People February 20, 2022

 




Voice of the People
P.O. Box 610
Halifax, N.S.
B3J 2T2

letters@herald.ca

Dear Voice,

Lax Enforcement

I am heartened by inspector Peverill’s quick and thorough response to HRM’s stop work order re: wetland damage in Upper Tantallon, (Chronicle Herald, Feb. 30.) It is good to know that the Halifax Regional Municipality office of Nova Scotia Environment and Climate Change is diligently enforcing the provisions of the Environment Act. We will need their leadership as we adjust to new climate realities.

I wish that all wetlands enjoyed the same robust protections. Inspector Peverill’s work stands in sharp contrast to the performance of Inspectors in the Kentville office. The Arlington Wetland is formed on a flat North Mountain shelf near Bridgetown; it collects and stores billions of litres of rainwater. It filters the water, as all wetlands do, and dispenses it via North Mountain Aquifers to dozens of downgrade domestic and commercial wells and springs.

Sadly and stupidly, NSECC has approved multiple industrial permits which allow the wetland to be used as a C&D and Hazardous materials dump. Our once pristine water supply has been abased by endless abuse: the land has been clear cut, drained, and excavated; the four brooks that are sourced by the wetland run thick with trout smothering silt. Through all of this, Kentville inspectors have consistently failed to enforce any mandated wetland protection regulations.

It was bad enough for Kentville staff to recommend approval of this natural community drinking water reservoir as a hazardous waste disposal site; it is even worse for Kentville inspectors to additionally ignore years of illegal dumping of auto fluff. Fluff is waste from recycling cars. It contains residual automotive fluids, heavy metals, PCB s, and a variety of other toxic materials and compounds. It is a powerful carcinogen.

Water tests now show that effluent release into the watersheds contains toxin levels far beyond Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment standards for safe drinking water.

Our health, property values, and children’s inheritances have all been compromised by foolish decisions, dysfunctional over-site, and non-existent enforcement of the Environment Act at Arlington.

Inspector Peverill...would you consider a transfer to Kentville?



Kip McCurdy

9195 St. Croix Cove Road

Hampton

Nova Scotia

B0S1L0

902-665-2435


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