Any life left in the old mine?

If public concern is not enough to bury the proposed Miller’s Creek gypsum quarry expansion, perhaps simple economics will kill the idea.

Last week, Fundy Gypsum submitted a focus report requested by the Department of the Environment, part of an ongoing environmental assessment process.

In light of the economic times, the process may prove to be a moot point, opponents say.

Last year, dwindling demand in the United States sparked massive layoffs at Fundy Gypsum. Now, long-time opponents of the company’s expansion Avon Peninsula Watershed Preservation Society (APWPS) say there is not enough demand for the rock to risk the environmental fall out of an expansion.

APWPS president Raymond Parker says the expansion is no win situation, from both an environmental and economic standpoint. “The only possible justification for the destruction of our watershed is, of course, jobs; but with the economic downturn we understand the Miller's Creek mine was basically shut down this summer. Our farms and vineyards provided more employment than the mine.”

Parker notes the report indicates there is enough gypsum present at Miller’s Creek to meet market demands for the next ten years. This period could act as a buffer zone, he says. “Why not take those ten years, work with the Province and the Federal government, and develop a sustainable alternative?”

Although the Town of Hansport heavily relies on the industry for its tax-base, Parker says it is not a proactive fiscal plan. “No doubt Hantsport Mayor Folker will be urging Hantsport, Windsor, and West Hants to lobby the Province on behalf of the mine, regardless of the EA and the costs to our community, but after years with the industry and still relying on it for taxes to run the town is not economic development--it's economic dependence.”

Even if the industry was in a boom, Parker says no environmental assessment should support an expansion at Miller’s Creek. “As you know, there was a lot of public concern over the Initial mine plan that proposed, among other things, to eliminate our headwater streams and wetlands.”

Parker says terms of reference set down by the former MacDonald government specifically agreed to provide ‘options for mine development such that water resources will be avoided and protected with vegetated buffers’. “Once you get past the spin in the report the facts speak for themselves: our headwater streams and wetlands would be eliminated by the mine.”

APWPS member Heather Desveaux says the expansion no longer makes sense from a business point of view. She says the present scenario could have been predicted close to a decade ago. In Sept 2000, a representative of Georgia Pacific told the Nova Scotia Standing Committee on Economic Development that mining in West Hants was all but dried up and stated he would be surprised to see any more gypsum quarries developed in Nova Scotia. “It is difficult to find a deposit of any size that is outside of a watershed or outside of a municipal population. To find a deposit of gypsum with 30 million or 40 million tons in it that you can develop in Nova Scotia is difficult, because, as you know, there are only limited areas where gypsum occurs,” he said.

Of the company’s promised reclamation, Desveaux says it’s a pipe dream. “They haven’t reclaimed what they destroyed for the past fifty years, so are we to believe they will in the next 50?”

She says because gypsum is 100 per cent recyclable, there should be a better alternative to provide the product than destroying valuable farm and wetlands. “We should invest in finding ways to reuse what we already have then to create more destruction. That is the direction the government needs to take on this.”

Fundy Gypsum Plant Manager, Mike Bishop was not immediately available for comment.

The purpose of the proposed expansion is to mine gypsum from a surface mine in Miller's Creek, Hants County. The mine life, including construction, operation and reclamation is anticipated to be in the order of 50 years.

Former Environment Minister Mark Parent requested the report in March 2008, after review of Fundy Gypsum’s environmental assessment report for the project.

The full report is available on-line and public comments will be accepted until November 23.

Weblinks: http://www.gov.ns.ca/nse/ea/Millers.creek.gypsum.mine.asp