Hillside residents tired of “lies”

Members of the Trenton Hillside Environmental Watch Association gather at Pictou East MLA Clarrie MacKinnon’s office to protest fly ash emissions from the Trenton power generating station. (Harvie photo)

“Lies, lies, lies,” was chanted by a group of individuals standing in the cold to protest what is going on in their back yards.
The protesters are all residents of the Hillside area who say they are tired of living in fear of what the fly ash from the Nova Scotia Power Generating Plant in Trenton is doing not only to their belongings, but their health.
Peter Boyles of the Trenton Hillside Environmental Watch Association says the group has been fighting this issue the last eight years. “But were told five years ago by MLA Pictou East Clarrie MacKinnon, that something was going to be done about it.”
Boyles says the group approached all of the MLAs at the time in search of assistance and “Clarrie took it up in the House, but nothing has happened.”
MacKinnon, in March 2007, questioned then minister of Environment and Labour Mark
Parent and then minister of Health Christopher d’Entremont as to the status of health checks and environmental standards regarding the emissions from the generating station and Boyles wants to know why there has been no follow up.
“He was very concerned and spoke out for us at the time, but now that his party is the government of the day, nothing is being done,” he says. “Was all of that just said to get votes?”
Boyles’ group presented MacKinnon with a letter and protested outside of his constituency office last Thursday for two hours questioning MacKinnon’s involvement in the constituency.
“It would be nice if we had representation in office that did what they said they would do before they got into office, and if it can’t be done, don’t make the promises,” says Boyles.
MacKinnon is sympathetic to the cause, but says Nova Scotia Power has spent “tens of millions of dollars on the Trenton generating station installing a bag house system to reduce emissions and we are told the emissions have been substantially reduced. I have never lied to them and welcome their protest, however, this government in Nova Scotia has set the most far reaching conversion measures in Canada. We are legislating and have legislated the generation of electricity in Nova Scotia to be at 40 per cent renewable energy by 2020. Until then, people will have to be kept warm through existing coal fire and other forms of generation. In fact, we will still be using coal fired generators after 2020.”
This legislation has also become a bit of a double edged sword for MacKinnon as he admits a considerable amount of opposition to wind turbines erupted from his constituency.
Boyles feels he has been lied to by a number of ministers and even Premier Darrell Dexter.
“It has been lie after lie, after lie,” says Boyles. “That bag house did nothing. We are hoping he and the other two MLAs will deal with this. It’s not fair to the community to have to live like this. Studies have shown that Nova Scotia Power is the worst polluter of all in the province.”
MacKinnon says nothing else is in the works for Hillside residents but, “I have a great deal of sympathy for the people of Hillside in my constituency and have fought for them in the past and will continue to fight for them in the future.”