Municipal councillor, residents opposed to proposed infilling of Dartmouth Cove

A major infilling project is proposed for Dartmouth Cove and the municipal councillor and area residents aren't happy about it.

An area of water spanning more than three football fields would be filled with rock over a period of six years if the proposed project, which requires federal approval, is allowed to proceed. 

Coun. Sam Austin, the councillor for Dartmouth Centre, says residents are afraid their community will become a dumping ground.

"The whole thing is just a bad idea," Austin said.

"It's a steady stream of people that use this space.… It sounds like they would want to close this for six years, and that's not acceptable."

Project could start this August

The proposal involves infilling 2.7 hectares of waterfront with around 35,208 tonnes of "material." The project could start as early as this August and continue into 2028.

Dave Beck, a longtime area resident, said he is concerned about the noise and the dust the construction will bring. But he is more concerned about the accessibility to the water and the well-being of nearby animals.

"We got seals living out there," he said. "They come in the rocks. We have sea otters in the sea wall here. They do lobster fishing up and down the coast here, also we have the entrance to Shubie Canal just over there."

Local historian David Jones, who lives nearby on Hazelhurst Street, said his concerns are more about maintaining access to the Trans-Canada Trail and preserving the legacy of the area.

"This is a very historic part of Dartmouth," Jones said. "People have been living and gathering here for thousands of years with Miꞌkmaw people living right at the outflow of the Sipekne'katik river here in Dartmouth Cove."

Some environmental professionals have other concerns.

Pyritic slate

More than one-third of the "material" to be dumped would be pyritic slate. Pyritic slate is considered a sulphide-bearing material, meaning it contains minerals that react with oxygen and water.

These minerals can seep into water and surrounding land and cause harm.

Will Balser, the coastal adaptation co-ordinator with the Ecology Action Centre, said there is a provincial standard that limits how much acid is permitted to be in the slate, but there is still the potential for harm to surrounding ecosystems.

"Sulphuric acid is a corrosive acid," said Balser. "It's used in a lot of chemical processes."

"Raw forms can damage your clothing, but even if diluted in water, I wouldn't want to drink it. I don't think fish are particularly interested in that either."

Application speaks of 'future development'

The project application states that "the intention is for the infilled project area to provide enhanced waterfront access and land that will eventually enable future development."

Austin takes issue with this.

He said no residential structures can be built there because the land is adjacent to the Trans-Canada Trail. Unless the space is used for a park or a community facility, he said the community will be left with yet another large "rock eyesore" similar to the current infill project taking place down the way at King's Wharf.

"When you create new land, you get the zoning of the adjacent land so this infill will get all the development rights of like the Dartmouth Common, it makes no sense from a planning perspective to be doing this," said Austin.

"It appears to me to be simply an opportunity to make some money off becoming a dump site and that's not what we want on our waterfront."

Federal approval required

According to provincial regulations for disposal of sulphide-bearing materials, pyritic slate must be dumped at a government-approved facility, such as the Fairview Cove sequestration facility, or a federally approved disposal site. 

In this case, the application must be approved by Transport Canada and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

The dumping fee is $25 per cubic metre.

This would mean the company heading this project, 4197847 Nova Scotia Ltd. — a numbered company owned by Bruce Wood, CFO at Atlantic Road Construction and Paving Ltd. — could have to shell out a little more than $1 million in dumping fees to the federal government.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada said in an email that it considers a number of factors when it receives an application for a Fisheries Act authorization.

"Specifically, the department considers the scale of the project, the effects of the project on fish and fish habitat, and avoidance and mitigation measures."

The project application states "infilling activities will result in the permanent loss of water column and benthic fish habitat."

Austin said he plans to bring the issue to the attention of other councillors, but encourages others to submit feedback on the project to Transport Canada in the meantime.

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