BY OLE HAMMARLUND
GUEST OPINION
Wednesday’s Guardian (July 11) offered opposing views on the proposed pulp mill outlet pipe. One viewpoint was from Nova Scotia MLA John Lohr stating that the preservation of the pulp mill was essential for preserving lots of jobs, and that P.E.I. pollutes the water too, so who are we to complain and hold up progress?
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The second opposing viewpoint was from our own Premier Wade MacLauchlan who expressed grave concern about the outlets effect on fisheries and tourism and asked for a federal review.
John Lohr is, of course, right that P.E.I. pollutes as well. Most of the water we use, be it for residential use or industrial use gets dumped into the sea. On top of that our agriculture drops huge amounts of fertilizer and chemicals into the ocean. Of course, Premier MacLauchlan would never acknowledge that our own pollution is a problem, but I will leave it to the reader to determine if that means he is a hypocrite or just a wily politician.
More to the point why is nobody discussing the obvious solution? Why are we not renovating or rebuilding the plant to drastically reduce the pollution generated in the first place? Why are we producing bleached paper, when brown paper is just as good in many cases? My coffee filter (bought at a premium price) is brown. If I could purchase brown unbleached paper towels or toilet paper I would do so as well. Even if bleaching is needed, for items such as white paper, the bleaching can be chlorine free, eliminating most of the toxic effluents.
Unfortunately, paper production uses a lot of water, and it all has to go somewhere. Turns out that a settling lagoon, such as the one the new system proposes to eliminate, is the best way to settle out particulates. However, the waste water entering such a lagoon should be as clean and free of chemicals as possible, so we do not end up with a future clean up problem such as the current toxic lagoon.
May I suggest that the premiers of both Nova Scotia and P.E.I. get together, and instead of battling each other, look into what it would take to create a new or renovated paper mill producing unbleached products in an environmental acceptable manner. Seems like a great opportunity for ACOA and the feds to get involved in a positive way. Hope the new plant will also eliminate the sulfur smell that occasionally drifts over to P.E.I., and I imagine Nova Scotians would really appreciate that as well.
Could be a win-win situation.
- Ole Hammarlund is a Charlottetown architect and environmentalist. [email protected]
