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New
Brunswick Losing on the Environment
(Fredericton
- April 20, 2001) - If the last decade gives us any indication
of where this province is headed, New Brunswick is losing the
fight to protect its environment.
Sunday
April 22nd is Earth Day, an event being marked by millions of
people around the world to bring attention to the health of our
planet. Here in New Brunswick, representatives from three environmental
organisations, the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, the
New Brunswick Natural Protected Areas Coalition and the Petitcodiac
Riverkeeper, met in Fredericton across from the Legislative Assembly
to paint a grim picture of the state of New Brunswick's environment.
In recent
years, New Brunswick has lost its last remaining large tract
of old growth forest, the Christmas Mountains; Canada's first
clam species has gone extinct in the Petitcodiac River; rockweed
habitat in the Bay of Fundy is under long term lease to a commercial
harvesting company; plans are on the boards for major electricity
projects which will maintain or increase, not reduce, greenhouse
gas emissions in the province; and toxic cosmetic pesticides
continue to be widely used in the province despite the known
risks to human health and our waterways.
The groups
challenged Premier Bernard Lord to a five-point action plan in
2001 that would reverse the alarming downward trends in resource
and environmental sustainability presently taking place in New
Brunswick, and called on the government to honour the province's
international obligations to protect world bio-diversity, species
at risk and its coastal areas, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and toxic substances in our environment for the sake of present
and futures generations.
Protected Areas
In 1992, New Brunswick committed to establishing a network of
protected areas. It has carried out the scientific background
work needed, held extensive public consultations, and convened
a committee of industry and environmental representatives to
hammer out recommendations for how to move forward with protected
areas. Yet we are still without a final decision to protect some
of our last remaining intact natural areas in New Brunswick.
Roberta Clowater, Coordinator for the NB Protected Natural Areas
Coalition said, "It is long-past time when government should
have made a decision to protect the 10 areas that have been recommended
to them. This Earth Day we call on Premier Lord and his government
to legally protect these significant wildlands - a lasting legacy
for New Brunswickers, now and for generations to come. "
Endangered Rivers
On the Petitcodiac River, the last decade has seen the infamous
Petitcodiac causeway bring about the first extinction of a clam
species in Canada, the Dwarf wedge mussel. Six species of fish
that used to migrate to the Petitcodiac River system in great
numbers have also been designated as "officially eliminated"
in the last decade. Meanwhile, provincial and federal governments
continued to study the river to death. The fight to save the
Petitcodiac River now spans four decades, making it one of the
longest standing environmental battles in Canada. "I call
on Premier Lord and his government to put an end to one of this
province's worst environmental decisions of the 20th century,
by committing to a project this year to restore full tidal flow
to the Petitcodiac River", said Daniel LeBlanc, Executive
Director of the Petitcodiac Riverkeeper.
The Coastal Zone
New Brunswick coastal lands and waters are under extreme development
pressure. Degradation and loss of species habitat, and loss of
critical ecological function in coastal zones is the result.
In 1993, the Commission on Land Use and the Rural Environment
urged the Province to adopt minimum province-wide standards for
the management and development of coastal lands to turn this
trend around. Today, a coastal land use policy remains buried
in political and bureaucratic back rooms, while fragile coastal
ecosystems continue to be lost to unregulated development.
Meanwhile,
burgeoning development in adjacent coastal waters further encroaches
on habitat and ecosystem integrity. Rockweed in the Bay of Fundy,
which provides fish habitat, supports primary production, and
contributes to water quality is now under long term lease to
a commercial harvesting company. Salmon aquaculture has expanded
beyond the capacity of coastal waters to support it without degrading
coastal waters and displacing species and traditional fisheries.
"In New Brunswick, said David Coon, Policy Director at the
Conservation Council of New Brunswick, there are no planning
or management regulations in place to ensure that coastal development
is sustainable and does not impinge on other uses or goals. In
2001, the New Brunswick government must finally enact the Coastal
Lands Policy and regulate its provisions under provincial legislation.
It must also begin the process of developing a complimentary
Coastal Waters Policy."
Global Warming
"The provincial government is on the verge of making a decision
that will make it virtually impossible for New Brunswick to significantly
reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in the coming decade, as
required by the 1992 Climate Change Convention", continued
David Coon. The 1005-megawatt oil-fired power plant at Coleson
Cove, just west of Saint John, is responsible for 20% of New
Brunswick's total greenhouse gas emissions, making it our largest
single source of climate-altering pollutants. Coleson Cove is
nearing the end of its operating life, but N.B. Power proposes
to extend it by refurbishing the boilers to burn a tar-based
fuel from Venezuela called Oremulsion.
Coleson
Cove consists of three boilers. "To meet our obligation
to cut greenhouse gas emissions, said Coon, whatever electricity
New Brunswickers require from Coleson Cove should be provided
by new highly efficient natural gas-fired heat and power plants.
For the fifteen years remaining in its operating life, one boiler
should be retired and replaced every five year, by a new gas-fired
heat and power plant somewhere in the province. This action alone
would reduce New Brunswick's greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent.
To permit the refurbishment of Coleson Cove will substantially
limit our ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in New Brunswick,
and we therefore call on Premier Lord and his government to reject
NB Power's proposal to lock New Brunswick into a high carbon
future".
Toxic Substances
A growing body of evidence demonstrates that exposure to toxic
substances in our environment can interfere with the intellectual
development and future fertility of children and wildlife. The
risks posed by cosmetic pesticides to children include attention
deficits, diseases of the blood and cancer. These pesticides
are of special concern because of the frequent opportunities
for exposure of parents, pregnant women, infants and children.
The 2000
report on Pesticides issued by the House of Commons Standing
Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development recommends
the development of a strategy for the gradual phase-out of pesticides
used for cosmetic purposes in Canada, and an increasing number
of studies link cosmetic pesticides to childhood and adult illness.
"Now is the time to implement a ban on the supply, sale
and use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes, as prescribed in
Section 8(b) of the New Brunswick Pesticides Control Act",
said Lia Daborn, Executive Director for the Conservation Council
of New Brunswick.
"This
Earth Day, we ask Premier Bernard Lord, 'What is the environmental
legacy you wish to leave to the children of this province?' Will
it be one of turning back from the brink, or will it be the perpetuation
of a downward trend that threatens to foreclose on many options
for future generations? We call on this government to accept
our Earth Day challenge, and commit to a sustainable, healthy
future for our children and our planet."
David
Coon and Lia Daborn, Conservation Council of New Brunswick, (506)
458-8747
Roberta Clowater, New Brunswick Protected Natural Areas Coalition,
(506) 452-9902
Daniel LeBlanc, Petitcodiac Riverkeeper (506) 388-5337
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