N.S. government, railway company settle lengthy legal battle over Hantsport aboiteau

The American owner of a Nova Scotia railway line says he's "very pleased" a years-long court dispute over who is responsible for an aboiteau in Hantsport, N.S., has been settled.

Bob Schmidt has long maintained the Halfway River aboiteau is the responsibility of the province and not the Windsor and Hantsport Railway Company.

The two parties came to an agreement on Oct. 24 and the case was dismissed. The province agreed to pay Schmidt's company $8,000 in costs.

Until the fall of 2017, the aboiteau was an embankment of earth and a wooden sluice — a sliding gate that controls the flow of water — that had stood for more than 100 years across the mouth of the Halfway River.

The now-dormant railway used to cross over the aboiteau, which kept tidewater from the Bay of Fundy from running upriver while allowing freshwater from the river to exit into the bay.

However, the aboiteau fell into disrepair and washed away, causing basements to flood. There was also concern about how the lack of aboiteau would affect a bridge upstream as well as a local ball field and a cemetery. 

The province issued a ministerial directive in January 2018 to the railway company telling it to fix the structure. The following year, the government replaced the aboiteau with the intention of recouping costs. At the time, it was slated to cost $4 million.

Schmidt's lawyers argued the aboiteau is in the bed of the Halfway River, which is owned by the province, and so the responsibility for repairs should fall to the government.

Future of line 

Abraham Zebian, mayor of the West Hants Regional Municipality, said he expects the province to maintain the structure going forward.

"I trust that the province of [Nova Scotia] will continue to ensure the aboiteau operates accordingly to its design to prevent any future flooding to the community that was experienced when it originally failed," said Zebian said in an email Wednesday. 

Zebian also said the regional municipality is "very interested" in the province acquiring the section of rail for recreational purposes. 

The railway, which was used to transport gypsum from a plant near Windsor to Hantsport, stopped operating around 2011. 

Schmidt said the company has previously worked with the Town of Wolfville and Municipality of Kings on similar conversions. Still, he has optimism the rail line could be used to transport gypsum if the plant were to reopen.