Killing Coastal Protection Act makes shoreline more vulnerable, Queens residents say

Brian and Cathie Mourre

Brian and Cathie Mourre live in Eagle Head. (Rick Conrad photo)

Nova Scotia’s coastline now has even less protection after the province announced Monday that the Coastal Protection Act is dead, some Queens County residents say.

Tim Halman, Nova Scotia’s minister of environment and climate change, announced the government would not proclaim the long-delayed act, effectively killing it.

The legislation was passed with all-party support in 2019. Instead, Halman introduced plans, tools and other legislation that would have property owners, municipalities and the province share responsibility for protecting coastal property.

He said the government wants to empower coastal property owners to make informed decisions. As part of that, the government introduced a new online coastal hazard map that shows projected sea levels, storm surges and flooding potential to the year 2100. 

Residents who have been waiting for stronger coastal protections were disappointed, but not surprised. Len Michalik lives in Eagle Head.

“I was somewhere between disappointed and vindicated in my thoughts that wow this is really where they’re going with this,” Michalik said. 

“They’ve kicked this can so far down the road that it’s in the ditch and unrecoverable. They promised they were in full support of this when in opposition. … And ever since they’ve come into power, they’ve done seemingly everything they can to make themselves look good while pushing it to the side.”

Michalik is part of the group Protecting Eagle Head Beach. 

It was formed in June 2022 when former Halifax mayor Peter Kelly bought a property on Eagle Head Beach and immediately blocked the road through the property which people used as one way onto the beach. The community was also upset that he was damaging the beach and wetlands on the property.

Despite many appeals to and meetings with Environment and Natural Resources officials, as well as with Queens MLA and Public Works Minister Kim Masland and her staff, the development was allowed to go ahead.

Cathie Mourre lives in Eagle Head. She is also a member of Protecting Eagle Head Beach. She said the Tories could have committed to enforcing current environment protections and making them stronger with the new act.

 “But instead they took the easy way out and put it in our hands. We’re not experts, we don’t know how to protect the coastline.”

Mourre said she’s worried that more of that job will now fall to smaller municipalities like Queens, who have limited resources.

“And the thing is Nova Scotia is a coastal province. So what happens in the municipality of Queens isn’t necessarily the same that’s going to happen in the municipality of Lunenburg. So we have two coastlines butting up against one another and we’ve got two different sets of rules, well that’s crazy.

“The municipality had bylaws set out and we know they didn’t follow them. The Environment (department) has tons of rules. They didn’t follow their own rules.”

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman joined 11 other municipalities last year calling on the government to enact the new legislation. 

She said that while she is disappointed, the region’s municipal planning strategy and land use bylaw, passed in 2022, has some of the strongest protections in the province.

She said she’s more concerned with neighbouring municipalities like Shelburne or the Municipality of the District of Lunenburg having minimal or weaker protections. The Coastal Protection Act would have levelled the playing field across the province.

Mourre says she believes property owners should be able to build on their own land. But they should be forced to follow the rules.

In the meantime, she says she wants a moratorium on coastal development. 

“And permitting on a beach is totally different than permitting in a subdivision,” she says.

“So when this permitting along the coastline happens, (staff) should be getting out from behind their desks and they should be going and looking at the piece of land that people want ot develop. It’s as simple as that.”

Michalik says he’d like to see the municipality resurrect and integrate the Coastal Protection Act into its own bylaws.

“However, I have my doubts that that will happen. We don’t have the resources or the manpower to actually do the investigation, do the research and do all the enforcement on it. I hope for the best but I fear the worst.”

Both Michalik and Mourre said, however, that maybe this will spur more people to pressure governments to do more to protect Nova Scotia’s coastline.

“We’re also in danger of having our licence plate motto which is known across the country and around the world, Canada’s Ocean Playground, is going to become the playground for those who can afford it. 

“The rest of us are going to have to stay in our designated areas and keep quiet.”

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com

Climate-change risk assessment projects massive upheaval for NS in coming decades

a foggy shoreline

Photo Ed Halverson

Nova Scotians got a look at how climate change will impact the province into the year 2100 as government released the latest projections and risk assessment Tuesday.

The report, titled Weathering What’s Ahead: Climate Change Risk and Nova Scotia’s Well-being, shows that Nova Scotia is getting warmer and precipitation patterns are changing and if further action is not taken Nova Scotians will experience more frequent and intense storms, sea level rise and changing oceans.

It says if global greenhouse gas emissions are not cut significantly projections indicate by 2100 Nova Scotia can expect:
— an increase of 4.8 degrees Celsius in the average annual temperature
— many more nights that are warmer than 18 C – in the range of 45, compared with about three currently
— a 10 per cent increase in annual precipitation
— higher peak wind speeds by 3.7 to seven kilometres per hour
— sea level rise by up to one metre
— an increase in the sea surface temperature by 5.1 degrees.

In a release, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Timothy Halman says “It’s important to understand where and how we are vulnerable so we can all take action.”

In addition to identifying areas of concern, the climate change risk assessment established priorities for action in Nova Scotia including:
— building capacity to prepare for multiple hazards that interact and evolve over time
— acting on flooding and increased heat-related hazards
— protecting people’s well-being and recognizing the links between people and the environment
— regularly updating the risk to the province.

The climate change risk assessment helped inform the province’s climate plan, which will be released Wednesday, December 7.

E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.

Home builder fined for environmental violations at Eagle Head Beach

A woman stands on a beach holding a sign demanding beach access for all

Protestors want construction of a new home on Eagle Head Beach to stop. Photo contributed by Talla Corkum

The owner and a contractor building a beach home on Eagle Head Road have been fined for violations of the Environment Act.

Tickets were issued by the Department of Environment and Climate Change for changing a watercourse without approval.

Fines of $1,157.50 have been levied against the contractor and $697.50 against the owner.

The department is still investigating reports of wildlife habitat being impacted by the construction which is taking place close to the beach but above the high-water line.

The new home build has upset local residents who mounted a protest Monday at the construction site.

They say the new home is disturbing sensitive beach grasses, waterways, and wildlife habitat.

One of the administrators for the Facebook page Protect Eagle Head Beach Talla Corkum says the destruction of the dunes and waterway flies in the face of the community’s values.

She says many of the protestors at Monday’s demonstration are seeing the property for the first time.

“The biggest reaction was just, how? Because these are people who have grown up around this beach for years, for so long and they’ve seen it and growing up around here we have been taught to respect the beach, that we can’t take any sand, we can’t move the rocks, we can’t take the rocks off the beach. That the dunes are sacred, basically,” said Corkum. “We have learned so much respect for this beach then, to see the, the change, the flip on the way that this beach is being treated, I think was very jarring for a lot of people who haven’t got a chance to see the site yet.”

While Corkum is pleased to see the province take some action, she doesn’t feel the fines are a real deterrent and is looking for stronger action to be taken to protect the beach.

“It’s a step and it‘s encouraging to feel like people are listening, people are trying. The investigation isn’t just open and shut and that, they are still looking at things that could be going wrong.”

She says the community has rallied behind the group’s efforts and they will continue to pressure officials and are planning more protests to raise awareness to keep this from happening again.

“It has been a lot of work. I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Corkum. “If this protects one more beach, I will be happy.”

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.

Home build blocking accessing to Eagle Head beach, raises ecological concerns

A no trespassing sign posted along a beach road

Eagle Head Beach construction. Photo Ed Halverson

Residents around Eagle Head Beach are sounding the alarm about the ecological impacts of a new house being built just off the dunes.

Since construction began earlier this month access to the beach has been cut off by construction equipment.

A group of beach users has formed a Facebook page called Protecting Eagle Head Beach to share information and raise awareness of the changes being made to the natural environment.

One of the Administrators of the page Talla Corkum says they’re hoping to see more concrete action taken to save the beach.

“Making sure all the permits are there, even seeing if there’s a way we can get a stop-work order.”

Corkum says the group is not only concerned about the changes to the environment but also the loss of access to the beach.

She says the large trucks coming and going are destroying the road and once the new house is built it will essentially become a driveway barring people from accessing the beach from the Eagle Head wharf side.

“Trying to prove the right of way and regain the right of way onto the beach. Especially now with the ruts that have created these big puddles, we have now lost access, walking access, to the beach from the side on Eagle Head Wharf Rd,” said Corkum. “Unless you wear boots up to your knees you can’t really get down there anymore.”

Heavy equipment blocks the road to Eagle Head Beach

Heavy equipment blocks the road to Eagle Head Beach. Photo Ed Halverson

Region of Queens Mayor Darlene Norman spoke with officials at the provincial public works department and learned the road was previously recognized but that may not be enough to prove the existing road is public.

“They believe there was and I know it shows on a church map from 1886 but as we all know, beaches are constantly moving and sand beaches are constantly moving back,” said Norman.

In 2019 the province passed the Coastal Protection Act to help ensure that new development happens high enough and back far enough to be safe from coastal flooding and erosion as well as preventing unnecessary interference with Nova Scotia’s coast.

The act is now waiting on regulations to be drafted before it will be enforced.

A spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Climate Change says this a huge piece of work that requires extensive collaboration, in additional to the consultations that’s already been completed.

Government anticipates the new regulations will be ready in 2023.

Corkum says if the Coastal Protection Act had been in place, none of this would have happened.

She says the group will press on with letter writing campaigns and contacting elected representatives, department officials and environmental groups in the hopes of getting someone to put a stop to the development before too much of the property is permanently altered.

However, she fears what happened to Eagle Head Beach may end up being a warning for other coastal areas in Nova Scotia.

“From this point now, we’re realizing that there might not be so much capabilities of saving Eagle Head Beach. Now we are more just using this as grounds to help other coastal areas in Nova Scotia. To try and make our voices heard. Maybe get the bill moving faster. Maybe even, another community will learn from us and we can help them. Just generally trying to protect the coast, especially now considering when you drive down the highway it says Queens Coast and there’s a lot of issues around the coast,” said Corkum. “I know that if we are the ones to make our voices heard it might prevent other people from in-filling, knowing where the community stands.”

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.

Province warning Nova Scotians about the dangers of blue-green algae

An algae bloom floats at the edge of a lake

A medium-density bloom of blue-green algae. Photo Department of Environment and Climate Change

As Nova Scotians prepare to head to the lake this summer the province is launching an educational campaign warning people to be on the lookout for blue-green algae.

The naturally occurring cyanobacteria can flourish in nutrient-rich fresh water such as lakes, rivers, ponds, and streams, especially during hot, dry conditions.

The algae can cause people to feel ill with symptoms of headaches, fever, itchiness, diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea or vomiting.

While the cyanobacteria is uncomfortable for humans it can be fatal to animals.

Children tend to be at a greater risk of exposure because of their smaller size and the likelihood they would spend more time in the water.

Anyone encountering blue-green algae should look for different water sources for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry and watering vegetables as contaminated water isn’t safe even if it’s boiled, filtered or treated.

Identifying algae can be tricky as it can appear several different ways.

Algae blooms can look like fine grass clippings in the water, spilled paint, pea soup or sometimes like a thick scum on the surface.

Algae mats can be found in shallow areas of lakes and rivers and on the shoreline and look like clumps of vegetation, appearing either black, brown or dark green in the water and may appear grey on the shoreline.

The province has launched a website to provide Nova Scotians with information on how to spot blue-green algae and report an outbreak.

Queens county has not had a confirmed case of blue-green algae since 2020.

Three outbreaks have already been announced in Halifax and Lunenburg counties this year and with forecasters predicting a hot, dry summer, they could be the first of many to come.

Reported by Ed Halverson 
E-mail: edhalversonnews@gmail.com
Twitter: @edwardhalverson

To listen to the broadcast of this story, press play below.