Death of the Digby Neck Megaquarry

Every now and then something happens here in Nova Scotia that gives me hope. The recent decision by the NS government to stop the development of this quarry was one of the most intelligent things I've seen it do since I moved back here. The quarry was one of those terrible ideas that should have been rejected immediately, but wasn't. I'm sure that the PC government was willing to allow it, but intense local opposition eventually resulted in a study of the project. The conclusion of the study was a no brainer - the quarry would be detrimental and should not proceed.

We can't be opposed to all quarries. Lets face it, we need them to build our roads - not that we are building a lot of roads here lately. Americans are building lots of them though, that is where the Digby Neck gravel would be destined for. Clayton Concrete of New Jersey planned to take 2 million tons of the Digby Neck to the US annually. You won't see them dig up their own state because they can't.

The North Mountain has a lot of basalt, and I think most people have no problem with a quarry located in an environmentally approved, unobtrusive area away from the coast. The problem is that we handle these matters the same way we did a century ago...there is no clear policy. The people of Nova Scotia should be paid an appropriate royalty for the stone when it is exported. There was no royalty for stone exported from the Digby Neck megaquarry.

My hat goes off to Andy Moir. I met him 10 years ago, a fellow who moved to Freeport because he loves the place. Andy took a large part in championing the struggle against the megaquarry along with many others. There is hope, but it takes more people like Andy to fight for their beliefs. Sadly, not a lot of this is happening. We still have herbicide spraying of the forests, clear cutting, unjust foreign land ownership, and Nova Scotia Power undermining clean and renewable power development through government sanctioned policies. The politicians here (all parties) are extremely backward when it comes to intelligent progressive policies to benefit the population. As long as this continues, Nova Scotia will remain a backwater.