Pictou Landing First Nation seeks judicial review of Boat Harbour cleanup plan

Taryn Grant · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 01, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 1

Pictou Landing First Nation has asked the Federal Court to overturn Ottawa's support of a program to store contaminated sludge from Boat Harbour successful an enclosed operation connected adjacent land.

The Mi'kmaw assemblage successful bluish Nova Scotia has filed for a judicial reappraisal of the determination from national Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault. Guilbeault said past period that the projected remediation of Boat Harbour, which for decades received wastewater from a kraft insubstantial mill, "is not apt to origin important adverse biology effects."

In a submission to the Federal Court this week, Pictou Landing First Nation argued Guilbeault's determination was "patently unreasonable."

The submission mentions insufficient consultation, interference with pact rights and violations of the United Nations Declaration connected the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, among different grounds.

Supporting documents person not yet been filed with the court.

The respondents are the national situation curate and Build Nova Scotia, the provincial Crown corp that's successful complaint of the Boat Harbour cleanup project. Neither enactment has yet filed a response. Nova Scotia Public Works Minister Fred Tilley, who oversees Build Nova Scotia, declined to remark connected the lawsuit portion it's earlier the courts.

'We can't truly heal'

Guilbeault's support incorporated several conditions, including the instauration of an advisory committee to analyse alternate locations for storing the sludge. But helium stopped abbreviated of mandating that an alternate tract beryllium found. Build Nova Scotia would beryllium allowed to usage the existing containment cell, arsenic planned, and past determination the sludge again if an "economically feasible" alternate is found.

Pictou Landing Chief Tamara Young said she's disquieted that if the containment compartment is utilized astatine all, her assemblage volition ne'er beryllium escaped of the sludge.

"I conscionable privation to marque definite it's done the close way," she said successful an interview.

Young said her assemblage lacks spot successful authorities due to the fact that of the past of Boat Harbour. Pictou Landing First Nation agreed to merchantability the erstwhile tidal estuary to the state successful the 1960s truthful it could beryllium utilized to dainty effluent from the mill astatine Abercrombie Point, N.S., which was astir precocious known arsenic the Northern Pulp mill.

WATCH | A timeline of Boat Harbour from the 1960s to 2019:

Community members person said they were duped into the woody with mendacious assurances that the effluent wouldn't beryllium harmful, but they soon noticed large biology changes.

"We can't truly heal arsenic a assemblage if we support that containment compartment there," Young said.

In earlier stages of readying the remediation, Build Nova Scotia said 1 alternate was to nonstop the sludge to a installation extracurricular the province, but ruled it cost-prohibitive due to the fact that of the immense measurement of sludge that would person to beryllium hauled distant by transport trucks.

Young said the assemblage is pushing for retention of the sludge connected the tract of the now-shuttered pulp mill, which would flooded the hurdle of long-distance transportation. She said she's anxious for the committee that Guilbeault ordered to get to enactment truthful that enactment tin beryllium afloat investigated.