Concerns raised about fish hatchery pipes
Company has addressed the issue at its facility in the Cardigan area
“They just threw them big pipes in there. I can’t imagine notified anyone that they’re doing it.”
Parnell Hughes
A Cardigan resident recently voiced concerns to the province about pipes extending from a fish hatchery into a nearby brook.
Earlier this month, Parnell Hughes started to notice long pipes leading from a pond of the hatchery, which is owned by Mowi Canada East, to the brook near his home, where he fished for decades.
In the photos Hughes shared with Saltwire, the two pipes were shown spanning almost the entire width of the brook.
Hughes said these pipes hadn't been that long previously, and he raised questions about whether the province was aware of the extension and whether it could have potential environmental impacts.
“They just threw them big pipes in there. … I can’t imagine notified anyone that they’re doing it,” Hughes told Saltwire in a recent phone interview.
Hughes said he lodged a complaint with the environment department after noticing this.
PROVINCE NOT NOTIFIED
In a statement to Saltwire, the Department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action said no request for a permit or notification regarding the installation of pipe extensions had been made to the department.
“We were only made aware of the issue via complaint on April 5,” the statement said.
Provincial officials then contacted the company to request the removal of the pipe extensions.
They later went to the facility to confirm the removal and to take water samples from the existing outfall to ensure there were no other possible ongoing impacts that the department was not aware of.
“At this time, staff, has no reason to believe that the pipe extensions negatively affected the environment or any downstream users,” the statement said.
“As a precaution and compliance check, Mowi was asked to begin providing weekly sampling results of their effluent quality and have these samples sent to the province for review until advised to stop.”
Gideon Pringle, managing director for Mowi Canada East, said in a statement the pipe extensions were intended to improve their appearance.
“Staff had informally lengthened the existing and approved pipe so it looked better. We have since removed the materials after speaking with the provincial regulator,” Pringle said.
This isn't the first time complaints have been raised with the province regarding the facility.
Back in 2019, Saltwire reported several complaints received by the Department of Environment. Community members, including Hughes, reported a strong odour due to runoff from the hatchery and observed brown sludge, some of which showed up in the Cardigan river.
In response, the company worked with the P.E.I. government to address the issue. The company started collecting monthly water samples as well as making improvements to the effluent systems, and by 2021 the water quality had improved, as reported by Saltwire.