Projects await environmental approval

Seal oil for Tors Cove and a Riverhead quarry to be decided by Aug. 28

Bernard Davis has a few decisions to make before the end of this summer.

The fate of several business projects rests on an answer from the minister of Environment and Climate Change for Newfoundland and Labrador.

One of them is a proposal by Pennecon Marine Base Ltd. to develop a quarry and commercial wharf near Graven Bank, in the town of Riverhead, St. Mary’s Bay.

The company proposes to develop a nine-acre area, which would include upgrading an existing trail — known locally as the Tote Road — to construct a 500-metre access road to the quarry and building a 700metre access road from the quarry to the wharf.

According to documents filed by the company on July 14, the quarry will be developed by drilling and blasting.

“Care will be taken when developing the quarry to maintain the proposed natural tree buffers along the quarry’s boundaries,” the company stated in its registration documents.

The local town council has already given its blessing of the project, noting the land in question is Crown land.

“The development proposed by Pennecon Marine Base Ltd. will create employment and great spin-off for our community and we fully support this development,” the town noted on a municipal recommendation form completed in January as part of the environmental review process.

In documents supplied to the province, the company said it expects to hire about 15 equipment operators and a dozen or so labourers for construction and operation of the quarry and wharf.

The public has until Aug. 20 to review the documents and offer public comment.

The minister’s decision is due by Aug. 28.

SEAL OIL FOR TORS COVE?

St. John’s-based Ár n-oileán Resources Ltd. has a plan to process seal skins, fat and meat into omega-3 oil and nutraceuticals for the food industry.

Ár n-oileán —that’s Irish Gaelic for ‘Our Island’— hopes to get started on renovations to the former Tors Cove Fisheries fish plant in Tors Cove, to be ready for the 2022 sealing season.

Company spokesperson Kevin Flood declined an interview with Saltwire, saying it was premature to talk about the company’s plans until all approvals are in place.

However, the seal oil idea is something the company has been working on since it founded in 2015.

In 2019 Ár n-oileán was, in fact, considering setting up its operation in the Town of Clarenville.

However, the building they had been eyeing for the operation was privately owned. An agreement was never finalized the property owner, Kevin King, has since done a deal with the Salvation Army to turn the building over to them for use as a church.

According to documents filed by Flood’s company for Tors Cove, the seal processing operation in Tors Cove will first require plumbing and electrical upgrades to the former fish plant. That facility operated for nearly 50 years as a groundfish processing plant.

In 2020 the company commissioned a Phase 1 Environmental Site assessment of the Tors Cove property.

That assessment, conducted by Pinchin Ltd., determined there was nothing at the site that would be likely to result in subsurface impacts. Pinchin did not inspect for asbestos.

To get the buildings ready for seal oil processing at Tors Cove, the company will have to upgrade electrical and plumbing, and install new cold storage and processing equipment.

If Davis grants environmental approval, Ár n-oileán hopes to have renovations and upgrades at the plant completed by January, 2022, to have the facility ready to operate before next year’s seal harvest.

The public has until Aug. 20 to comment on the proposed project.

The minister’s decision will come by Aug. 28.

FIVE-YEAR PLANS FOR FORESTRY

The province, through its Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, has five-year plans proposed for three forestry regions in the province.

Those regions include District 21, on the South Coast of Labrador; and Zones 3 and 7 in the central part of the island.

The documents filed for environmental assessment outline management plans for commercial and personal-use woodcutting, silviculture projects and construction of access roads and bridges, as well as forest protection.

Once adopted, the plans will be in effect from Jan. 1, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2026.

Deadline for public comment is Aug. 20.

Public comments on these projects, and others, should be addressed in writing to the minister at:

Department of Environment and Climate Change P.O. Box 8700

West Block Confederation Building St. John’s, NL A1B 4J6 Or via email at Eaprojectcomments@gov.nl.ca

For a full list of projects currently being assessed, visit: https://www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/env-assessment/projects-list/