Fall River quarry approved despite controversy
Brett Ruskin | CBC News | Posted: September 22, 2015 12:49 PM | Last Updated: September 22, 2015
'I found out about the approval by reading about it on Facebook,' says Andrew Younger
Environment Minister Andrew Younger says he has no authority to overturn the environment department's approval of a rock quarry that is proposed for the Fall River and Miller Lake area.
The proposal has been opposed by some residents who have been fighting the prospect of a quarry for three years. Stacey Rudderham lives near the site and said her lawyer was told this week that Scotian Materials Ltd. has been given the go ahead.
"We're wondering why they're so hell-bent on getting this quarry opened," Rudderham said.
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Younger says that if an application meets the requirements, it is approved.
"Applications for an industrial approval are really a checklist type of thing," he said.
Conditions of approval
Approval was granted for a quarry under four hectares on Perrin Drive in Fall River, according to Nova Scotia Environment. The department says in a release the following conditions must be met:
- There must be monitoring requirements in place for ground and surface water.
- There must be dust monitoring.
- Monitoring of noise level limits associated with the work.
- Blasting limitations are put in place.
- The company must establish a "community liaison committee that includes representation from the area."
Details off all of the conditions can be seen here.
The local community has been fighting the project since 2011. The matter had gone through the court process and was in the hands of the Department of Environment.
According to Rudderham, Scotian Materials Ltd. was granted industrial approval Sept. 15, although the decision was not widely publicized.
"Nobody was notified. Not the local MLA, not the HRM. Nobody was notified," she said.
'I was a bit annoyed'
Younger says he too wasn't notified of any approval.
"I was a bit annoyed, more than a bit annoyed, that I found out about the approval by reading about it on Facebook," he said.
Given the controversy surrounding the project, Younger says he would have liked to have been given a heads up about the decision.
According to the department, a quarry under four hectares "does not require ministerial approval or notification." Under the Environment Act, appeals can be made within 30 days of an approval. The deadline to appeal is Oct. 16.
Younger is not involved in the approval process because he is the one that makes a decision if appeals are made.
There have been calls for Younger to step in and overturn the approval, but he says his hands are tied. He says as environment minister, he could step in if the company was violating the conditions of the approval, but where the rock quarry hasn't started up yet, that can't be done.
"You can't just go in and rescind a validly-issued permit," said Younger.