In order for the Governments to be empowered to take action they have to know that the majority of the people they serve want the clean-up of Boat Harbour and the Mill to begin. We have been subjected to more than our share of pollutants from the mill and it is long overdue to be rectified once and for all. It is time for action now. Sara and I called the kids in out of the yard a few times over the weekend because it was so thick here in Lyons Brook. Many areas of the County get it far worse than we do here but there were times this weekend when we could barely see the neighbours house across the road. I remember when this Facebook page started a spokesperson from Northern Pulp said that it is mostly steam. That is totally false and they flat out lied to everyone. It is extremely high levels of PM 2.5 and according to the World Health Organization that stuff causes strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases including asthma. The fact that over 40,000 residents here in Pictou County alone are being subjected to these unacceptably high levels of pollution in both the air and the water is absolutely crazy. I would like to see a temporary closure of the mill until Boat Harbour is cleaned up and until a proper study is conducted and the mill can be proven to operate safely and responsibly. They are not responsible corporate citizens. They are getting away with killing masses of people very slowly. They know it, the government knows it, and we know it. It is very easy to place the blame on various governments but remember that not that many years ago everyone thought it was OK to burn tires. And now in this generation we know that that is not OK. So because we now know better we must now do better. Those currently serving in government are facing the enormous pressure of having to clean up a mess left behind from a previous generation. Its such a complex and intertwining mess but many of us have become informed. And although some of these points are already known here is a list worth reviewing (and there are many more not listed such as the information about high levels of mercury and cadmium around the site and Boat Harbour): In 2012 Northern Pulp emitted a level of Particulate Matter 2.5 (PM2.5) that put them 334,900 % above the Federal Reporting Threshold level as set by Environment Canada. The Threshold level is set a 0.3 tons annually and Northern Pulp released 1011 tons in 2012. According to WHO (World Health Organization) air pollution (PM2.5 & PM10) is large contributor / cause of: strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases including asthma. who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/ According to Statistics Canadas 2013 report out of all the Provinces in Canada, Nova Scotia has the highest cancer incident rate. And Pictou County has the highest cancer incident rate in Nova Scotia. The mill draws approximately 35 billion litres of fresh water annually (100 million litres daily) from the nearby West River, and dumps it as industrial effluent into Boat Harbour - a once pristine natural body of water located in the heart of the Pictou Landing First Nations community. - thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/66174-way-past-time-end-boat-harbour-s-sorry-saga - canadians.org/fr/node/7718 Since 2009 Nova Scotia tax payers have given the Mill over 139 million dollars in financial assistance. Northern Pulp is owned by Asia Pulp and Paper (Sinar Mas) based in Indonesia and they have earned a very poor global record in the forest sector for their clear-cutting practices. - ran.org/corruption-land-conflict-and-forest-destruction-asia-pulp-and-paper-case-study-sumatra-indonesia - worldwildlife.org/press-releases/asia-pulp-and-paper-greenwashing Asia Pulp and Paper is trying to establish a full and complete footprint across Canada. - greenpeace.org/canada/en/Blog/asia-pulp-paper-warns-of-aggressive-canadian-/blog/35833/ Asia Pulp and Paper is one of Asias largest debtors - marketwatch/story/asia-pulp-paper-braces-for-12-billion-default - businessweek/stories/2001-08-12/asias-worst-deal Former Nova Scotia Premier, Dr. John Hamm, is the current Chairman of the Board of Directors at Northern Pulp. Northern Pulp currently employs somewhere between 180 and 250 people. CBCs The Fifth Estate documentary from 1988 (13min) - youtube/watch?v=3Tto9FP7m_U Website - cleanthemill
Posted on: Tue, 20 May 2014 15:45:48 +0000
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