Let's see if we can get this Strait, er, straight. Northern Pulp has pumped effluent into a lagoon for years. This was the "treatment" to deal with some pretty noxious stuff. As our editor wrote, until just a few years ago, the atmospheric pollution included some sulphur compounds. We could tell, very stinkly, when the wind was from the southeast. This sounds irresponsible, already.
Now, because this process has been found unsafe, not to mention unpleasant, the proposed solution is to treat the guck even less than in the lagoon and send it Strait to the straight.
As the editor wrote Thursday, the tide will take this both directions in the strait straight into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and from there, into the world's oceans. Again, from our editor, we read that we cannot trust an unbiased opinion from Nova Scotia. They have 3,000 jobs in that mill.
But how many Islanders, their jobs and quality of life, depend upon fishing, processing and eating fish from these waters? This water and its effluent will also touch New Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland and courtesy of the ocean currents, eventually western Europe and on and on. It might be diluted a bit by then but don't be deluded, it will get there. Let's not turn the oceans into a treatment lagoon.
A thorough and true federal assessment is needed. Start with the contents of the guck being spewed and whether that stuff belongs on our dinner plates. If it comes up with a safe answer, an international assessment may not be needed.
By the way, the N.S. politician tossing red herrings needs to remember that this guck will kill herring of any colour, even red herring spotted with green, blue and purple from pollution.
Carl Mathis
Charlottetown
