Nova Scotia pulp mill submits report to province on effluent proposal

HALIFAX — Northern Pulp has submitted a required focus report to Nova Scotia’s Environment Department for its controversial effluent treatment plant proposal.

The pulp mill near Pictou, NS, was asked for the report by former environment minister Margaret Miller, who said following an environmental review in March that her department needed more information about the plan.

The department says the new focus report will be available online within 14 days, once its staff have done a preliminary check to confirm it’s complete.

The public will then have 30 days to comment as part of the environmental assessment process, and a decision on the proposed effluent treatment plant will be made within 39 days after that period ends.

Company officials have said that if their plan to pipe 85 million litres of treated wastewater into the Northumberland Strait is not approved, the mill will close.

The province’s Liberal government passed legislation in 2015 that gave the mill until Jan. 31, 2020, to come up with a new treatment plant project.

In a news release, Northern Pulp general manager Bruce Chapman said the company worked hard to produce a science-based document that will “provide a clear path to an approved project.”