Checklist needs to go up front
W e don’t need missteps in the quest for renewable energy. But it’s apparent not all aspects of a tidal energy project in the Bay of Fundy were taken care of before making massive strides toward construction and deployment.
As a result, with Cape Sharp Tidal in a position to install two massive turbines in the Minas Passage, a fishermen’s group is working to legally block this test phase pending a Nova Scotia Supreme Court review in February of the province’s approval of the project.
First of all, granted there is a difference of opinion over what kind of effect the turbines could have on the aquatic environment, particularly in an area of sensitive fishing grounds.
But all that should have been addressed early in the process – and addressed fully – not debated in months leading up to the proposed launch date.
Members of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen make a valid point in their aim to delay this installation, set for this fall – once the turbines go in, they’re not likely to come out.
And the fishermen say they fear irreversible damage to the ecology.
We might be tempted to ask: why didn’t these objections arise before the 11th hour? Surely the fishermen would have had these concerns upon first learning of the proposal. Was publicity insufficient in the early stages? Were representatives of the fishing industry consulted as stakeholders?
The potential for greener energy production from Nova Scotia’s tides holds great interest for everyone, considering the need to move away from fossil-fuel generation of power.
The developers of these projects in conjunction with the province would be better off taking every concern into account before the approval and, certainly, before a lot of investment.
A point made by those involved with the project is that the turbines would turn relatively slowly. Where similar components have been used elsewhere in the world they present no such problems as collisions with marine life.
But fishermen questioning the technology have said it’s not that simple. The site where they’re to be placed is near some marine beds crucial as an incubator for a number of species – thus posing implications for a far greater area than the Fundy Basin.
How might the dynamics of turbines affect a sensitive marine area? What can scientists establish about the area before installation of turbines?
We need to avoid approaching these things from the inside-out, and then having to unravel them later.