[Note: the opinions expressed on this page are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership]

Only someone with a heart of solid, royalty-free, Fundy basalt would not have felt a slight twinge of sympathy for the folks of Bilcon of Nova Scotia as the environmental hearing on their plans for a megaquarry at Whites Point on Digby Neck drew to a close recently. The company's Environmental Impact Assessment Report, proclaimed that their project would create 34 well-paid jobs, have negligible impact on local people and their environment and, when all the reclamation work is finished, leave a coastal habitat far superior to Mother Nature's austere efforts. Surely, it was an offer that couldn't be refused. Unfortunately, Bilcon's carefully orchestrated plans failed to factor in two crucially important considerations: the truly remarkable people of Digby Neck and the Islands and the truly unremarkable Provincial bureaucracy.

From the outset, Bilcon clearly underestimated the determination, talent and organizational abilities of the people living between Digby and Brier Island. A climatologist from Ontario, a veteran of many such environmental assessments, opined in his presentation to the three-member review panel that the community participation in these hearings was unquestionably the best he had ever encountered. Speaker after speaker soundly panned the quarry as a mega-project that would undermine tranquil rural lifestyles, damage lucrative ecotourism and fishing industries, harm wildlife such as the endangered Right Whale, and industrialize a pristine and scenic coastline. Importantly, they also backed up their often emotional and very personal appeals with cold, hard science. They brought in experts from many different fields to excoriate Bilcon's Environmental Impact Assessment Report for its inexcusably sloppy science, its rose-coloured interpretation of impacts and its glaring dearth of crucial information. The community's overwhelming voice of opposition evident at the two-week hearings, however, was but the culmination of a prolonged effort to derail the project and chart a more sustainable future for the area. For almost five years the quarry opponents have met, networked, fund-raised, researched, outreached, posted signs and skillfully organized themselves. Clearly, Bilcon had not counted on such persistent, dedicated and determined opposition by so formidable an adversary, or becoming embroiled in such an epic David and Goliath encounter.

On the other hand, Bilcon must have felt somewhat comforted by the substantial support from some departments of the provincial government. In particular, the Department of Natural Resources seems to have initially painted the bulls-eye on the Whites Point aggregate deposits and subsequently devoted itself to passing Bilcon the ammunition needed to improve their aim at the quarry, so to speak. It seems that in the myopic view of DNR's Mineral Division, the only valid use for rocky shorelines is to blow them up and ship them out. Until recently, a similar shortsighted philosphy prevailed in the Department's Wildlife and Forestry Divisions: namely; that shooting and trapping is the only acceptable use for wildlife and exporting cheap pulpwood is the wisest use for our forests.

However, DNR's enthusiastic boosterism aside, the provincial government as a whole unquestionably failed Bilcon and the many other users of Nova Scotia's 10,000 kilometres of diverse coastline. Nova Scotia lags far behind other jurisdictions in developing a coherent coastal protection framework or an integrated coastal management policy. For instance, New Brunswick seems to have a clearer sense of which types of activities are most appropriate for particular coastal areas and which activities are incompatible. They certainly have a better appreciation of the Bay's ecotourism opportunities, their economic benefits and the importance of conserving promising areas. Indeed, they have effectively usurped ownership of the Bay, as far as most tourists are concerned, with their well orchestrated "New Brunswick's Bay of Fundy" advertising campaign. The province has also taken steps to manage the diverse uses of its coasts by legislating a Coastal Areas Protection Policy.

In contrast, Nova Scotia has been struggling for over a decade with a hodgepodge of coastal protection concepts initially formulated in a 1994 discussion paper entitled "Coastal 2000". This consultation paper warned "The protection of this extensive coastline and the many communities along the coast is critical to Nova Scotia's future." It further added that "Either we can continue to adopt a piecemeal approach to problem solving, or we can begin to make rational choices within a strategic framework". Regrettably, after the initial flurry of excitement, Coastal 2000 sank slowly into the bureaucratic abyss. Since then, there has been little detectable evidence of government interest in pursuing an integrated coastal management policy. As the Bilcon quarry approval process illustrates, Nova Scotia is still struggling with the same sort of piecemeal, approach to coastal management that its bureaucrats railed against in 1994.

This glaring absence of an integrated coastal management framework makes Nova Scotia's rocky coastline an attractive target for non-renewable resource consumers, such as Bilcon's parent company, Clayton Concrete and Sand of New Jersey, that are finding themselves more and more constrained at home. Such corporations clearly anticipate that they can undertake massive resource extraction activities in Nova Scotia that are largely forbidden in their own country. Bilcon readily acknowledges that in the United States "construction aggregate producers are encountering difficulty in expanding existing operations and in developing new sites and building new plants. County and local regulators are increasingly limiting producers by enacting restrictive zoning and land use restrictions". In contrast, it seems that virtually the entire Nova Scotia coastline is open for business.

This effectively invites any industry to propose any developments along any stretch of coastline regardless of compatibility with existing or anticipated uses or of the aspirations of the residents of nearby communities. The result is an expensive, reactive, piecemeal, case-by-case approach to coastal development. Industry would undoubtedly much prefer clear, concise guidance as to provincial and community priorities for coastal areas before they invest heavily in detailed project proposals and impact assessments. It has been costly for Bilcon and Clayton Concrete to carry out the studies necessary to prepare a complex Environmental Impact Assessment Report. Unquestionably, Bilcon of Nova Scotia as well as the beleaguered citizens of Digby Neck have been poorly served by the provincial government's failure to articulate a coherent integrated coastal management plan for Nova Scotia. It may be time to plumb the bureaucratic depths and try and refloat Coastal 2000.