Water worries
Town of Pictou says Northern Pulp effluent risk is unacceptable to water supply
NEW GLASGOW, N.S. — The overland portion of Northern Pulp’s proposed effluent pipe is being called “unacceptable” by the Town of Pictou because of the risk it could pose to the town’s only water supply.
The route currently planned for the pipe — which will carry treated pulp mill effluent into the Northumberland Strait — follows Highway 106, crossing through the middle of the Pictou watershed.
“A pipe through the watershed is unacceptable,” said Pictou Mayor Jim Ryan in an interview on Nov. 21.
The watershed boundary was first drawn up in 2007 by the Town of Pictou and Municipality of Pictou County. Risks to the water supply such as contaminants from agricultural and residential land use in the area were incorporated into the town’s source water protection plan, which was finalized in 2013 and revised in 2017.
When Northern Pulp’s overland pipe route was first proposed in 2018, Pictou council informed Northern Pulp they would not accept any new risks on top of what they have already planned for.
“These concerns were raised with the Department of Environment and Northern Pulp: no additional risk to the watershed,” said Ryan.
The town’s water supply relies entirely on the watershed. Aquifers and ground water drain into a concentrated well field. After collection, these wells feed water into the town’s water treatment facility. Water is then stored and distributed to the town’s 3,500 residents.
Detailed in Northern Pulp’s focus report are steps the company is taking which it says will mitigate any risk of the pipe leaking.
These include increasing the pipe’s wall thickness from 53.8 to 67.7 millimetres and installing an automated leak detection system. With proper installation, the report claims the risk of the pipe leaking to be “extremely low.”
For the Town of Pictou, “extremely low” is not low enough.
“In this case you’re talking
“If you have a standard you’re shooting for, it should be zero when you’re talking about how we make our food and what we drink to survive.”
Town CAO Dan Troke
about introducing a new element, and whether there is detection or a bigger pipe, it’s still a level of unknown,” said town CAO Dan Troke. “If you have a standard you’re shooting for, it should be zero when you’re talking about how we make our food and what we drink to survive.”
Based on LiDAR information showing land elevation in the area, the report also indicates any surface runoff from a leak would accumulate in areas outside the well fields. But Ryan says the report does not provide adequate detail on how it could drain underground.
“They make an assumption that because surface water goes this way then it’s likely that water under the surface would go the same way,” he said.
The leak detection system which the focus report says can detect any leak over 60 litres per hour is also a concern for council.
“It’s basically saying, if there is a leak that’s less than 60 litres per hour there’s not confidence in saying that it isn’t leaking,” said Ryan.
Another option for the overland pipeline which was explored by Northern Pulp would have installed a secondary containment pipe which would contain any leaked effluent, but the idea was scrapped in favour of the current proposal.