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Riverkeeper Asks
that Mediator be Appointed
(Moncton,
July 14, 2003) - After more than a year of waiting for a final
answer from the Province on whether experimental gate openings
will take place during the current EIA scheduled to be completed
in 2005, the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper has learned that the Province
is now raising the possibility that a new EIA may be needed in
order to gather this important scientific data.
The Province's response as well as the slow pace
at which the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper perceives the current river
study to be proceeding has prompted the environmental organisation
to ask that a mediator be appointed to resolve a number of outstanding
issues surrounding this million dollar study.
Provincial officials managing the Petitcodiac
River EIA and the firm hired by the Province to conduct the study,
AMEC, first started to raise the possibility of a new EIA back
in February at a meeting held with the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper.
Five months later, says the Riverkeeper's Executive Director Daniel
LeBlanc, "the Province is continuing to suggest that a new
EIA may be needed, without providing us with a definitive answer
to this fundamental question. If this issue is not resolved soon",
says LeBlanc, "the project risks losing further credibility".
At issue is whether experimental openings will
take place during the river study in order to model three out
of the four options which are being reviewed in the EIA: seasonal
opening of the gates, permanent opening of the gates and the replacement
of the causeway with a partial bridge (the first option - new
fishway, does not require free flow). The decision on experimental
openings was supposed to be taken this summer, but delays experienced
by AMEC in preparing the terms of reference for the modelling
component have moved this discussion to the fall.
For the Riverkeeper, the delay means that the
entire 2003 year may be lost in terms of collecting important
field data that to help decision makers understand the implication
of all three free flow options. The organisation is further concerned
that if important decisions on this matter are not taken soon,
another EIA may be needed after 2005 in order to get the information.
The group has asked Premier Lord, a local MLA
(Moncton East), to get directly involved in the file and have
copied their request to the federal Ministers of Fisheries and
Oceans and Environment Canada. The Riverkeeper is also asking
to meet with the Premier, something that it hasn't been able to
accomplish since the Government was first elected four years ago,
in order to have a direct discussion on the Petitcodiac, recently
designated Canada's Most Endangered River.
"The people of this region have been getting
the run around from the Province regarding the Petitcodiac for
several decades now" says LeBlanc, "and this has got
to stop". "I think it is only fair that everyone be
told when the river issue is expected to be resolved. Are we still
aiming for 2005 or are we now looking at 2007, 2009 or beyond?"
asks the Riverkeeper.
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INFORMATION:
Daniel LeBlanc, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper
(506) 388-5337 - www.petitcodiac.org |
