1. Northern Pulp
Yesterday, the Halifax Examiner published two stories related to Northern Pulp Mill’s environmental impacts.
In the first, Joan Baxter looks at the curious case of Canso Chemicals:
For two decades Canso Chemicals produced chlorine for the pulping process at a site adjacent to the pulp mill on Abercrombie Point in Pictou County, but when new pulp and paper effluent regulations came into effect in 1992, the mill switched to chlorine dioxide. No longer needed, the chemical plant was closed.
The chemical plant long ago closed, but the mercury poisoning remains. And now Northern Pulp intends to build new facilities related to the planned effluent pipe on or near the site of the mercury contamination.
In the second article, Linda Pannozzo updates an article she wrote last year about air pollution near the mill. In last year’s article she wrote:
In a study published in 2017, Dalhousie University researchers reported that air levels of three volatile organic compounds (VOCs) near the Abercrombie pulp mill in Pictou County exceeded cancer risk thresholds and “are of primary health concern in terms of population risk.”
At the time, the authors of the paper would not comment on their work to Pannozzo because they were actively engaged with the Boat Harbour Remediation Project, and they thought further comment would constitute a conflict of interest.
But a lot has happened since then. Most importantly, the environmental assessment for the proposed effluent pipe has been published, and that assessment disparages the researchers’ study. And so the researchers have responded.
Both of yesterday’s articles are for subscribers. Click here to subscribe.
2. Barb Hamilton-Hinch
“Set against the backboard of Canada’s role in hoops history,” writes Evelyn C. White, “I was doubly delighted to discover that Dalhousie University faculty member Barb Hamilton-Hinch stands among the sport’s most accomplished national figures. Her position? Official score keeper.”
White goes on to profile Hamilton-Hinch, an unsung hero in the local basketball scene. It’s a nice piece for both Hamilton-Hinch’s birthday and for International Women’s Day.
Click here to read “Barb Hamilton-Hinch knows the score.”
3. Sidewalk clearing
Councillor Waye Mason has acknowledged the abysmal state of the sidewalks:
Long thread here – I wanted post a quick note to acknowledge the poor state of sidewalks in Halifax right now. The quality of snow removal this last storm has not been acceptable.
— Waye Mason 🇺🇦 (@WayeMason) March 6, 2019
The response of residents posting photos of deplorable and unusable sidewalks was overwhelming. Here’s a tiny sampling;
Compton. Williams and Welsford were the same. pic.twitter.com/4l5JETWRR4
— John Kyle (@HeyCornpusher) March 7, 2019
Church St pic.twitter.com/fAcOFC6c93
— John Kyle (@HeyCornpusher) March 7, 2019
The Robie end of Charles St, in @LindellSmithHFX‘s district, remains untouched. pic.twitter.com/tWiIQ12fFF
— krisp 😷 (@krisp131) March 7, 2019
Obviously, calling 311 or contacting your councillor doesn’t address the problem. I don’t know why the city doesn’t make the names and phone numbers of the contractors available to the public so citizens can complain directly, and hopefully get some action.
So public service journalism here… here are the contractors, as awarded two-year contracts (with the option of two annual renewals) in 2017. Maybe call them up directly:
zone 1: Cole Harbour, Eastern Passage, Waverley Areas
(detailed area description here)
Provincial Pavement Marking Limited
(902) 404-8655
Zone 3: Bedford, Larry Uteck Areas
(detailed area description here)
Provincial Pavement Marking Limited
(902) 404-8655
Zone 4: Herring Cove, Timberlea, Cowie Hill Areas
(detailed area description here)
Provincial Pavement Marking Limited
(902) 404-8655
Zone 5: Peninsula Halifax – South End Areas
(detailed area description here)
Leaheys Landscaping and Contracting Ltd.
(902) 445-0060
Zone 6: Peninsula Halifax – North and West End Areas
(detailed area description here)
Traceys Landscaping Limited
(902) 404-4397
Zone 7: Clayton Park, Fairview Areas
(detailed area description here)
Leaheys Landscaping and Contracting Ltd.
(902) 445-0060
Zone 8: Burnside, Dartmouth Crossing Areas
(detailed area description here)
Provincial Pavement Marking Limited
(902) 404-8655
Zone 9: Lake Banook Areas
(detailed area description here)
Leaheys Landscaping and Contracting Ltd.
(902) 445-0060
Zone 2 was awarded through another tender offers, as follows:
Zone 2: Sackville, Beaver Bank, Fall River, Windsor Junction
(detailed subscription here)
Dexter Construction
(902) 835-3381
I believe that downtown Halifax and downtown Dartmouth through to north end Dartmouth, including my own neighbourhood, are covered by city crews.
4. Replace the Trailer Park Boys with this dude
“Isn’t The Trailer Boys schtick getting old?” I asked Monday, suggesting there are other stories that better exemplify Nova Scotia, like for example, this guy:
A volunteer firefighter who pulled over to help three people whose car went off the road in Cumberland County, N.S., Sunday afternoon had his car stolen — allegedly by the people he was trying to help, RCMP say.
“He came upon the vehicle that was off the road and looked into it to see if any assistance was required and the occupants of that vehicle then aligned things to their advantage to be able to take the firefighter’s vehicle,” RCMP Cpl. Andrew Joyce said.
…
He said there was a report of a car crash at that time, but did not know if there were any other vehicles involved.
The suspects are two males and one female, Joyce said. Details of how the theft happened are still unclear, but he says the firefighter wasn’t hurt during the incident.
“Anyway, somebody should make a TV show about that trio, but kill it after a season or two, eh?” I wrote Monday.
Yesterday, the story got even better, when the RCMP issued this release:
Cumberland District RCMP have obtained a warrant for the arrest of a man who has been charged with several offences recently in Cumberland County.
Bradley James Barton, 34, of Pugwash, is charged with:
• Theft of a Motor Vehicle
• Theft Under $5000 ( 4 counts)
• Possession of Property Obtained by Crime
• Mischief Over $5000
• Mischief Under $5000
• Breach of Recognizance (2 counts)Barton is a white male, 6-foot-1 and 270 pounds, and has a shaved head and blue eyes. He has tattoos on most of his body, including his face. The charges are in relation to a recent theft of a volunteer firefighter’s vehicle while he was stopped to provide assistance to Barton, who was involved in a collision with a vehicle that he is alleged to have stolen earlier that day. Police have not been able to locate him, and are requesting assistance from the public.
Seriously, Bubbles and his cat can’t compare.
Government
City
No public events.
Province
Legislature sits (Friday, 9am, Province House)
On campus
Dalhousie
The Economic Impact of Immigrants: What do Europeans really think? (Friday, 10am, Room 1009, Rowe Management Building) — Zeynep Ozkok from St. Francis Xavier University will speak.
Ethics and Epistemology in the Digital Revolution (Friday, 3:30pm, Room 1130, Marion McCain Building) — Maggie Little from the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University will speak.
The Girls of Meru (Friday, 7pm, Halifax Central Library) — screening and Q&A with filmmaker Andrea Dorfman. Donations accepted after event for The Equality Effect’s 160 Girls Project. Register here.
From Bach to Blues, Dalhousie Guitar Ensemble (Friday, 7:30pm, The Music Room, 6181 Lady Hammond Road) — featuring solo performances, duos, trios, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, and some new arrangements by Scott MacMillan. $15
“There’s Dicke Robinson”: Reconstructing the Life and Repertoire of an Early Modern English Boy Actress (Friday, 3:30pm, Room 1170, Marion McCain Building) — Roberta Barker will talk.
King’s
Shalan Joudry (Friday, 7:30pm, President’s Lodge) — from the listing:
An evening of readings and sharing with Mi’kmaw writer, performance artist, and storyteller Shalan Joudry. The author of Generations Re-merging (Gaspereau Press, 2014) and Elapultiek (a new play premiered by Two Planks and a Passion in 2018), Shalan Joudry is also the producer and co-host of the exciting new podcast, “Trails, Tales, and Spruce Tea.”
In the harbour
02:30: Jennifer Schepers, container ship, sails from Pier 41 for Kingston, Jamaica
03:30: Crete I, container ship, sails from Fairview Cove for New York
06:00: Oceanex Sanderling, ro-ro container, arrives at Pier 41 from St. John’s
06:00: ZIM Vancouver, container ship, arrives at Pier 42 from Valencia, Spain
11:00: SCF Angara, oil tanker, arrives at Imperial Oil from Baton Rouge, Louisiana
12:00: CLI Pride, cargo ship, arrives at Fairview Cove from Liverpool, England
16:30: CLI Pride sails for sea
21:30: ZIM Vancouver sails for New York
Footnotes
TGIF.
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Tim, What’s the deal with Sidewalk Zones 10 and 11? (middle Dartmouth and Burnside)
Different timing of contracts?
My understanding from watching the video of the council meeting where the contracts were approved, is that the city still had/has a handful of equipment, and at that time that equipment was repurposed for downtown Halifax and downtown Dartmouth up through the north end of Dartmouth. Scroll down to the second map here: https://www.halifax.ca/sites/default/files/documents/city-hall/regional-council/161122rc14112.pdf and see the zones called HRM9 and HRM12.
Cleared our sidewalk and part of the next door sidewalk. Then the second storm came and I cleared as much as I could before the freezing rain arrived. I went out during Sunday evening to clear the interesection at Dahlia and Victoria. The Monday storm was quite complex and I don’t understand why able bodied adults in metro don’t get out there and try to get down to bare sidealk. HRM council is not willing to pay the cost of clearing such a storm. Gone are the days when young male teens walked a neighbourhood asking if you wanted the sidewalk cleared. And to those posters on twitter, looking at you Keesmat and your ilk who prattle on about sidewalk clearing in Copenhagen and Sweden, I will point out that the Monday storm dropped more snow on metro than falls on Gothenburg or Stockholm in a year.
People do go door-to-door asking to shovel here in Bridgewater. And the town has its own sidewalk cleaners, who have been working almost non-stop this week.
If we can do it, why can’t HRM?
• Mischief Over $5000
• Mischief Under $5000
Is there a marginal mischief rate in effect or were these two separate instances of mischievousness?
Tim, thanks for posting that info on the companies who are (not) clearing our sidewalks. Next time i’m going to call them directly and complain.
Also of note, Waye Mason is getting a lot of press about the lack of sidewalk clearing (article on CBC with him this am), but Lindell Smith was actually driving around yesterday assessing the situation and asking people to report to him sidewalks that were not clear. I sent him info on our neighbourhood and it was done by the time I got home. I hope there’s a connection there ….
Chris