Northern Pulp to shut Boat Harbour waste treatment plant in 2020

The province of Nova Scotia has set aside $50 million to begin cleaning up the pulp mill waste treatment plant in Boat Harbour, but there are still questions about where the effluent will be treated after the plant is taken offline.

“Today’s legislation will call for the closure of the Boat Harbour effluent treatment facility by January 2020,” Labi Kousoulis, Minister of Internal Services, said friday.”I know that seems like a long time, but there is no quick fix to Boat Harbour. It will take several years to complete our remediation planning and several more years to complete the remediation itself.” Kousoulis said remediation planning is well underway.

The cleanup could take up to 10 years to complete.

Ken Swain with the Department of Internal Services said the Nova Scotia government cut short the lease that would have allowed Northern Pulp to operate the treatment facility until Dec. 31, 2030.

“The mill’s expectation, I believe, would have been to enjoy the lease until that date. However, that was not consistent with the promise that was made by the province to the community to close Boat Harbour within a reasonable time frame,” said Swain.