The Keltic hearings
Day five, Antigonish
Tears, fears and cheers
“I’ve only seen [my boyfriend] for three weeks this year. He wants
this project to go so he can come home and start a family with me.”
~ Resident Melissa Christie.
ANTIGONISH – Passions were stoked to the point of tears during day five
of the Keltic hearings, as Guysborough County was portrayed as a community
on life support, relative provincial newcomers complained of alienation,
and promised jobs were called into question.
The Ecology Action Centre (EAC) continued its attack on Keltic
with Jennifer Graham’s presentation on coastal impacts.
“It’s hard to define what the impacts of such a project are
going to be,” Graham said. “We were hoping the environmental assessment
report would look at the coast as a dynamic system.”
Graham said the province lacks a unified coastal development
strategy. The current approach, she said, is a mishmash of intergovernmental
regulations.
Projects like the proposed petrochemical and Liquid Natural
Gas (LNG) plants in Goldboro threaten a tradition of coastal benefits, Graham
said.
According to her research, the province’s tourism industry
rakes in $1.27 billion, with most of those dollars being generated in coastal
areas. She said 95 per cent of hotels and other accommodations are located
within 30 kilometres of the coast. Nearly 70 per cent of Nova Scotia’s $5.7
billion in exports comes from rural and coastal industries. An industrial
development like the one proposed by Keltic would negatively impact those
numbers, she said.
“Our coasts have too high a value, and the cost of poor regulation
and poor development is too high to allow this type of project to proceed,”
she said.
Ben Chisholm, a business manager with Plumber and Pipefitters
Local UA 244, was the first to question Graham on her presentation.
“I’d like to look after the environment, too,” he said. “I’m
not anti-environment. I’m pro-people, though. Out of the 7,000 kilometres
of coastline, there must be a few miles to set aside for people to make
a living.”
Jerry Webb, owner of Mother Webb’s Steakhouse, was the second
intervenor. He said Keltic has been the only credible source of economic
development to come along in the past 35 years.
“Somebody has to say it,” he said. “Maybe a project of this
type would draw tuna.”
Webb went on to say a late 1960s oil spill in Santa Barbara
wound up producing bigger, more lucrative shrimp stocks for fisherman.
Brian Segal of the Antigonish Area Partnership gave an open
forum presentation on the current economic straitjacket the area is experiencing
versus the potential direct and spin-off effects the $4.5 billion project
could have.
“If even half the people that come here are new, they’re
going to have to build houses. And new houses mean new carpets, kettles
and that kind of stuff,” Segal said.
By generating its own power with an on-site cogeneration
facility, Keltic will avoid using dirtier, coal-fired energy supplied by
the province.
“I hope the panel will look favourably on this project as
a way to rejuvenate and save the depopulation of the region,” he said.
During the time allotted for members of the audience to speak,
local resident Melissa Christie made a tearful plea to the board, begging
for approval so that her boyfriend could come back from Fort McMurray.
“I’ve only seen him for three weeks this year,” she said.
“He wants this project to go so he can come home and start a family with
me.”
Graham then stepped up to the microphone, reopening the compensation
debate and saying that government guidelines on wetland impact mitigation
are hierarchical, with avoidance topping the chart, and compensation coming
in last, after mitigation.
“It’s also strongly encouraged that wetlands be replaced
when they’re lost,” she said. “They should be in the same watershed, which
is a little tricky with this project.”
Her fellow EAC member, Chantal Gagnon, said the proposed
wharf appears to be taking up half the entrance to the harbour. She called
for further impact assessment regarding the wharf. Keltic spokesman Shawn
Duncan said detailed design and modeling of the wharf is pending and will
be submitted to Transport Canada.
The afternoon session kicked off with a presentation from
Guysborough County Regional Development Authority (GCRDA) project manager
Gordon MacDonald.
Quoting a series of “sobering” statistics, MacDonald painted
a picture of the county as a moribund community in dire need of economic
development. In 2001, he said, population levels declined by 23 per cent
to 9,825, down from 1981’s 12,752.
Between 1997 and 2002, Guysborough County suffered the worst
levels of outmigration experienced by Nova Scotian counties of a relative
size, MacDonald added.
“We expect the 2005 census to reveal a further decline to
slightly over 8,000,” he said. “We expect the population to decline to 6,600
by 2016.”
According to GCRDA, the county labour force is also ailing,
with 2001’s 16 per cent decline from 1986 levels putting the region “well
below” the provincial average. Meanwhile, the 2001 unemployment rate climbed
to 22.9 per cent, up from 13.4 per cent in 1986.
Household income, he continued, is below the provincial average,
and 30 per cent of income comes from government transfers. Education is
also suffering, MacDonald said, with student enrollment down 57 per cent
since 1981. The county had 18 schools in 1981; it now has five.
“It is clear that the status quo is not an option and we
are at a critical stage in our history,” he said. “The only growth sector
identified in our study was social services.”
The GCRDA has a number of recommendations and requirements
for fully endorsing the project. A table of contents for all plans is required,
including waste and wastewater management, as well as an environmental-protection
plan. It prefers off-site disposal of tar and other caustic materials. It
also called for a commitment to review the feasibility of reducing water
volumes by using recycled water. Compensation for fisherman, job training
for Guysborough residents and full adherence to tax legislation were some
of the conditions called for by GCRDA.
MacDonald also said that throughout the hearings he has heard
much from people about the county’s quality of life, but that it was “almost
exclusively” from people who don’t live in the area. He said he found many
of the submissions to be “condescending.”
Those comments set the stage for an impassioned presentation
from Dr. Marike Finlay-de Monchy.
A resident of the Eastern Shore since 1999, Finlay-de Monchy
began by saying she has “experienced a chilly climate” for dissenting views
on the Keltic issue.
She specifically referenced a column about the Keltic project
that was originally submitted to “a community newspaper.” The paper in question
was The Journal, and the publication’s ownership made the decision to not
publish the column. A similar version of the piece was eventually published
in the Halifax Chronicle Herald.
Finlay-de Monchy rattled off a list of negative epithets
she said were fired at her as a result of that column, and other dissenting
public opinions, many of which focused on her being “a come from away.”
After affirming her credentials as a resident, she outlined
her opposition to the project.
“The Eastern Shore is a unique place in the world,” she said.
“It’s one of the few remaining stretches of unpolluted eastern coast. It
would be a huge and irrevocable error to establish heavy industry here.
It might impede future development.”
Finlay-de Monchy favours non-industrial development that
includes high-speed Internet, telecommuting, bike trails, arts, culture
and fitness. She also said the province is suffering a skilled labour shortage
and doesn’t have the appropriate labour pool to meet Keltic’s needs.
Ben Chisholm was the first to approach the microphone after
her presentation, saying he disagreed with everything she said, and calling
her expertise into question. Colin Negus, a lobster fisherman who had been
vocal throughout the proceedings, spoke up from his seat in a violation
of Environmental Assessment Board (EAB) hearing rules.
“I think she’s wrong,” he said, before approaching the microphone
and explaining a Mexican migratory working program the province uses.
Finlay de-Monchy’s presentation was supported by Dr. Karin
Cope, who hit on many of the same themes of alienation, skilled labour and
green development.
“Keltic’s own assessment suggests most workers during the
construction phase... would come from Antigonish County,” she said, adding
that long-term jobs would also be filled by workers outside of Guysborough
County.
Cope said the Keltic team is counting on resistance in Isaac’s
Harbour and elsewhere in the county being too weak to affect their plans.
In an effort to show the “come from away” banner to the proponents, both
Cope and Finlay-de Monchy pointed out the foreign roots of Keltic’s business
partner, 4Gas.
“We have 6,000 years of human habitation in Isaac’s Harbour
and we’re going to turn it into a brown zone for 15, 20, 25 years at the
outside? Are these the jobs you want for your kids?” Cope asked.
Dr. Elisabeth Bigras was the afternoon’s final intervenor.
She expressed concern about pollution from the plant and potential health
impacts, like cancer and lung disease.
Chisholm responded by saying the project would be sending
cleaner fuel to the United States, which is downwind from Nova Scotia.
Emissions were further scrutinized by the EAC, with Gagnon
leading that charge.
“We’re doing preliminary modeling for the emissions of the
facility,” Duncan said. “We feel these emissions meet the regulatory standards
applied to these facilities.”
“Right,” Gagnon replied. “So we don’t know?”
“There is more work to be done on that, yes,” Duncan said.
Les Van Hemert said the project would upset property values
by lighting up darkened country nights, something many buyers consider an
asset to the region.
“I wonder if real estate values are going to be worth anything
at all,” he said.
Duncan said a towering flare stack would only be used during
start-up collaboration and emergency situations. When asked how often emergency
situations might arise, a Keltic team member from Stone and Webster Canada
said it wasn’t predictable. When pressed, he said emergency incidents might
occur once every fiscal quarter.
The decommissioning of the plant was also discussed.
Duncan insisted the project would have a long life. He wasn’t
sure whether an environmental assessment was necessary in the event of the
plant’s sudden or planned closure.
INTERVENORS:
•Jerry Webb
•Guysborough County Regional Development Association,
Gordon MacDonald
•Ecology Action Centre,
Jennifer Graham
•Dr. Marike Finlay-de Monchy
•Dr. Karin Cope
•Dr. Elisabeth Bigras
