MILLER LAKE WEST: The decision by Nova Scotia Environment (NSE) to approve the Fall River quarry is “disappointing” to the local MLA.

Bill Horne said he was in a meeting on the morning of June 19 with officials from NSE regarding the the application from Scotian Materials and how an approval would be a disservice to Miller Lake West and surrounding communities. He said he got a feeling the more they talked that NSE was leaning towards approval of the project.

“I spent the morning talking to environment officials,” said Horne on the afternoon of June 19. “I certainly am disappointed by their decision. I will be working with NSE to ensure that the proponent is in full compliance with every term and condition in the approval.”

The quarry will be less than four hectares in an industrial area. The 10-year approval includes terms and conditions to reduce environmental impacts and protect public health. Among them are requirements for: monitoring ground and surface water, dust, and noise; blasting limitations and monitoring; and a community liaison committee with representatives from the area.

Horne encouraged the community residents to appeal the decision. However, he hasn’t decided if he will send in an appeal on his own. The deadline to appeal is July 19.

Stacey Rudderham, one of the members of the group opposed to the quarry, said they’re not surprised by the decision, although they have found out through the media rather than being contacted by NSE as they had requested.

“We know that the Premier has been pushing for this be approved for quite some time now so we’re not surprised this was their decision,” said Rudderham. “One thing we are surprised about is NSE isn’t doing what they said they would do and that was to notify us. Instead, we’re finding out from the media.”

She said the group will have to take some time to read the approval from NSE before knowing what their next steps are.

“We’re going to read the conditions of the approvals to see what we might do next,” she said. “This is obviously a political situation. It’s really not a big surprise.”

Rudderham said it’s too soon without looking it over to say if they would appeal the decision or not.

She said the group remains opposed to it and continue to be gravely concerned about what will probably happen at the site to the community and the environmental impacts that will come.

“It’s just a matter of determining of what we can and should do going forward,” said Rudderham.

Rob MacPherson, President of Scotian Materials, said he’s pleased to have received the approval.

“I knew it would reach a fair, unbiased, and evidence-based decision,” he said. “I’m quite confident the concerns and the issues put forward through the process have been addressed. We’re now looking forward to the operational phase of the project.”

He said site work will begin immediately, adding not to expect any blasting work for a few weeks yet.

“We will begin with getting organized to finish the site preparation work, ensure all the environmental controls and protections are in place and adequate for moving into that full operation mode,” said MacPherson. “It would be a few weeks before we’re into blasting and crushing. There’s certain steps that have to be taken first to ensure all the baseline data is collected for the required testing and submissions. That will take a few weeks to pull together all that.

“Once that is all done, we can prepare to do our first blast and get into crushing and production.”

MacPherson was asked how Scotian Materials plans to keep a respectful relationship with the community.

“I will be looking to keep an ongoing dialogue, and as part of that we will be setting up a Community Liaison Committee where members of the local community can participate to share any ongoing concerns as well as staying informed on progress through the operations,” said MacPherson. “We will also be keeping an open dialogue, as we have, through our email and website portals for engaging the community.”

He said they do appreciate all the input received through what was a comprehensive consultation process. He said there was a lot of community involvement, with some opposition.

“I feel that at the end of the day this approval was evidence-based on the strength of all the input from the consultants and community groups will ensure this is a safe and well-operated operation.”

phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com