'A total surprise': Municipalities unprepared for uranium exploration in their backyard

Frances Willick · CBC News

· Posted: May 20, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 hours ago

Some municipal leaders are feeling unprepared and uninformed aft learning their regions could go location to the archetypal uranium exploration successful Nova Scotia successful astir 45 years.

On Wednesday, the Nova Scotia authorities issued a petition for exploration proposals astatine 3 sites it believes have uranium deposits. The 3 sites see areas adjacent Louisville successful Pictou County, East Dalhousie successful Annapolis County and Millet Brook successful Hants County.

"It's a full astonishment to us," said Robert Parker, warden of Pictou County.

Parker said helium doesn't cognize overmuch astir uranium mining and will request to commencement gathering accusation and perspectives astir the issue.

He said close now, helium tin spot some sides of it.

"We privation to support our situation and we privation to cognize that people's properties are protected.… There needs to beryllium truly bully biology guarantees," Parker said.

"But I don't wholly disagree with the premier neither.… We don't cognize economically wherever the aboriginal is leading, you know, with clime alteration and tariffs and each the remainder of it. We also person to keep an system that volition enactment our citizens looking ahead."

In March, Tim Houston's authorities passed authorities that volition licence uranium exploration for the archetypal clip since a moratorium was introduced successful 1981 and a afloat prohibition was implemented successful 2009. The authorities has pushed for much exploitation of earthy resources to enactment up the provincial economy, particularly erstwhile faced with challenges from U.S. tariffs.

Parker said truthful far, helium hasn't heard immoderate treatment among residents astir uranium, but ultimately, assembly volition travel what the bulk of constituents want.

But municipalities whitethorn person constricted power implicit immoderate imaginable exploration oregon mining, arsenic mining is simply a provincial jurisdiction and the state could expropriate land if a task ever moved to the signifier of excavation development.

Coun. Ronald Baillie, who represents the Louisville area, besides said he'll be starting from scratch to larn astir uranium mining and exploration.

"It's each caller to me, I'll enactment it that way," Baillie said.

If the enactment tin beryllium done safely and doesn't impact the situation oregon contiguous a hazard to residents, "then I conjecture we'd person to look astatine it," helium said.

Hants County

Over successful Hants County, municipal officials person heard plentifulness from their constituents astir uranium.

The country of Millet Brook, adjacent Lower Vaughan, N.S., was the superior tract of uranium exploration successful the years starring up to the moratorium successful 1981. The province's petition for exploration proposals for the site notes that it is the lone known deposit successful the state that is of important size.

Kayla Leary-Pinch is the councillor for the country that has been earmarked for imaginable exploration and lives adjacent to the site. She said the Houston government's propulsion since the past election to assistance the prohibition has revived residents' memories of the statement implicit uranium successful the precocious 1970s and aboriginal '80s, and raised concerns among newer residents.

One of her constituents' primary concerns is the imaginable for h2o contamination, particularly arsenic astir usage good water.

"I bash stock immoderate of the concerns of my residents astir h2o prime due to the fact that I americium a nonmigratory of the area," Leary-Pinch said. "I privation to marque definite that my good h2o is harmless for my family."

She said aft the state wrote to each 49 municipalities successful February asking them to awesome their enactment for much assets development, West Hants Regional Municipality wrote backmost to Municipal Affairs Minister John Lohr requesting much information. 

Leary-Pinch said the provincial authorities has yet to respond, and that some assembly and residents request much information.

"It's hard to advocator for residents erstwhile we don't person the afloat accusation to person informed discussions and marque decisions."

Abraham Zebian, the politician of West Hants Regional Municipality, said helium feels determination hasn't been an accidental for residents oregon municipalities to inquire questions of the province.

"You can't marque a large decision if you don't have information connected it yet, and we conscionable person nary information. So until that happens, I deliberation we're going to proceed expressing our concerns and lasting with our residents."

Annapolis County

Diane LeBlanc, the warden of the County of Annapolis, said some assembly and constituents lone learned astir the selected tract done a provincial quality release, and she expects the state to supply much accusation astir its plans.

East Dalhousie falls wrong Coun. Brian Connell's district.

"I don't cognize capable astir it to accidental thing close oregon wrong," helium said. "For now, I'd person to enactment neutral until I speech to the radical that unrecorded successful the country and get much info connected it."

Next steps

Proposals for exploration indispensable beryllium made to the Department of Natural Resources by June 11. If determination is simply a palmy applicant, that volition beryllium announced by July 7 and a licence volition beryllium issued by July 11.