SUNDAY, JANUARY 1, 2012
Fracking In Nova Scotia:
Why the big secret?
While everyone's frothing about fracking shale gas in Nova Scotia, for the past two months in the House of Assembly COAL was the subject of a great deal of debate, but not a word of it is ever mentioned or reported by the usual suspects and eco-experts. Why the big secret?
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TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 4, 2011
Managing partner in the Donkin Coal project, global mining giant Xstrata, has been in talks with Nova Scotia Power for about four years but those negotiations went off the rails briefly in late 2009, when tighter environmental restrictions on emissions were introduced. Talks were restarted after authorities adjusted the timetable for implementing tighter environmental controls, allowing the power company to continue using "local coals or higher sulphur coals until 2014 or 2015, when more strict emissions begin to kick in." ... The power company is already using Nova Scotia coal from Pioneer Coal Ltd. of Antigonish, which operates a strip mine in Pictou County near Stellarton and another strip mine on the site of the former underground Prince Mine in Point Aconi. ... If Nova Scotia Power signed on to acquire up to one million tonnes of Donkin coal, with a savings of $20 per tonne in transportation costs alone, Akerley says, it would save the utility about $20 million a year. With the energy content 15 per cent higher than the Colombian coal, he maintains, it would represent another $15 million saving for Nova Scotia Power.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/18861-nsp-commitment-could-push-development-donkin-mine
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THURSDAY,
OCTOBER 20, 2011
MR. MACLEOD: This has all been very interesting, but we have to get back to - by your own admission today, we’re still going to be burning coal in 2020 and years after that. It could be more than the 35 percent that is projected in your slides...
It is my understanding that we have good, quality coal here in Nova Scotia that we’ve used for many years in the past and we could use now; coal that is higher in BTU quality, it doesn’t have the transportation costs that are associated with importing coal and we could put Nova Scotians to work rather than people in Colombia or other countries... ...
Why is it that if we’re going to have to burn coal
we’re
not going to be burning Nova Scotia coal
to meet Nova Scotian needs and
have a made-in-Nova Scotia energy plan?
MR. HUSKILSON: I think first of all we do burn Nova
Scotia coal.
MR. MACLEOD: Not enough.
MR. CHRISTOPHER HUSKILSON: (President
& CEO Emera) We burn - 10
per cent or 20 per cent of our coal is from Nova Scotia...
...
MR. MURRAY COOLICAN: (Deputy Minister of Energy)
You’re right that in 2020 it looks like there will still be a significant coal burn. In spite of the tremendous transformation that our electricity supply will have gone through, there will still be significant coal and it could be more than 35 per cent.... ...
The other things that we’re looking at and monitoring, there’s work being done at Cape Breton University around underground coal gasification, which we’re continuing to stay in touch with them, which is another potential opportunity to take advantage of the coal resource in Cape Breton. There has also been some interest as well in coal-bed methane, not just in Cape Breton but in the Pictou-New Glasgow area and we’re continuing to look at that as well.... ...
Nova Scotia Seeks Bids for Coal Gas Exploration
April 14, 2010
http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20100414005
http://www.imwa.info/docs/imwa_2010/IMWA2010_Younger_378.pdf
http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningcb/2010/09/09/coal-gasification/
http://laurusenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Laurus-final1.pdf
MR. ANDREW YOUNGER: The last thing I just wanted to ask about that then is, in terms of the placement there has been talk about Point Aconi and there was another site.
MR. HUSKILSON: Lingan.
MR. YOUNGER: Lingan, thank you. Has there been any further development on where the landing site would be?
MS. TOWER: (Emera VP) What we have to do is lay the cable and build two converter stations to convert it from direct current to alternating current. We think the best place for one of those converter stations is on an existing high voltage substation that we have today. If you look at that, it likely favours the Point Aconi site, but we’re not at the detailed engineering, but that would be our hunch, if you will, right now.
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/committees/committee_hansard/C10/re_2011oct20
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Powering Nova Scotians: "Reclamation"
of the Prince Mine Site in
Point Aconi, Cape Breton over 5 years and 2
million tonnes of coal
later with no end in sight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6tKFlQTCeQ
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WEDNESDAY,
NOVEMBER 2, 2011
MR. SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Cape Breton West. …
…
MR. MACLEOD « » : Mr. Speaker, it was really nice that the Minister of
Energy tried to answer that question… … That being said, Mr. Speaker,
at the Resources Committee meeting on October 20th, officials of the
minister's department stated that by 2020, 35 per cent of the
electricity that's needed in Nova Scotia would come from fossil fuels.
He said, "We see coal
and petroleum co-potentially as low as 35 per
cent . . ." That's exactly what his deputy minister said.
My question to the minister is, if we still need coal
in the coming
decade, why isn't the minister demanding that Donkin coal
be used
instead of shipping coal
in from places like South America?
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11nov02/
MR. SPEAKER « » : The honourable
Minister of Energy.
HON. CHARLIE PARKER: Mr. Speaker, I welcome the opportunity here to
have a few minutes to speak on Bill No. 66. It's really an opportunity
to speak on energy and electricity prices in our province, and that
topic certainly is an important one for all Nova Scotians and certainly
is one of the key priorities of our government….
Unfortunately, we've seen the cost of power or electricity escalate
significantly over the past number of years. The biggest driver in
those electricity cost increases have been coal
- coal
that comes from
outside our province, from outside our borders, and often has come in
from as far away as Columbia, in South America. In fact, until very
recently, 80 per cent of the electricity consumed in Nova Scotia came
from coal...
...
This government has a concrete plan to take our energy into the future
and to really put it into our own hands. It's one that we're well on
the way to implementing. Our renewable electricity plan sets some of
the most aggressive targets in the world and, by 2015, we'll be at 25
per cent of our electricity produced by renewables - right from our own
province - and by 2020, we'll be hitting the 40 per cent from local and
regional renewable sources.
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11nov02/
MR. SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Inverness.
MR. ALLAN MACMASTER » : Mr. Speaker, I never got a chance to meet my
father's father, my grandfather, because he passed away before I was
born, but he was a Gaelic speaker. I have no doubt that if he had heard
this talk of this Augean stable, he would say that it was only a pile
of cach.
MR. SPEAKER « » : I would advise the member for Inverness to be very
careful with his language. I'm assuming that "cach" is a lot like
"dung," so we'll move on.
MR. MACMASTER « » : Yes, Mr. Speaker, you're quite accurate in your
assessment.
This resolution that we're debating talked about life becoming more
expensive for Nova Scotians…. …. …. I know my honourable
colleague from Cape Breton West asked a couple of questions about wind
energy, but we did not receive any clear answers on why wind is here to
replace coal.
We also didn't hear what the cost of wind was….
….
I just want to read to you. We talk about actual facts and figures
around energy rates. I have a contact in the energy industry and I was
speaking with him the other day and I was trying to determine, what is
the cost per megawatt hour to generate electricity in this province? We
see coal,
which is much loathed for its environmental consequences, but
coal's
cost per megawatt hour is $50. Wind is between $100 to $150, so
it's two to three times more expensive. Tidal, they hope, is in the
neighbourhood of $150 per megawatt hour. That's only hopefully, because
we're not there with it yet. We look at natural gas - that's between
$20 and $100 per megawatt hour - it's volatile though, because the
price changes a lot. Crude oil is obviously volatile as well, we see
that at our gas pump, that's about $100 per megawatt hour. And if we
look at solar, I've heard estimates of up to $800 per megawatt hour.
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11nov02/
<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4. 2011
Inverness Chapter of the Council of Canadians and
Margaree Environmental Association's Press
Conference announcing legal action to
quash the oil drilling permit issued by the Nova Scotia
Government, at Lake Ainslie, Cape Breton Island.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=GhwdKYNtNdQ
MEA Neal Livingston interview on CBC radio: Livingston.Lake Ainslie Appeal_159588.mp3
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WEDNESDAY,
NOVEMBER 16,
2011
The honourable member for Dartmouth
East.
MR. ANDREW YOUNGER « »: Madam Speaker, it's interesting that, you know,
it's important if we're going to have a discussion about this, to have
the correct facts. …
So the problem with that is that the idea in this bill makes a lot of
sense but some of the statements that have been made by the Third Party
around this are simply pure rhetoric because we're dealing with the
costs that they introduced and we're dealing with a bill, or the origin
of a bill, EGSPA, which that actual government, and at the time
Minister Parent, didn't actually outline the costs at the time. I'm
glad that they've had this change of heart and think that we should do
this now. I actually think that it makes a lot of sense to do it but
(Interruption) Oh, I'm sorry for that….
But coal
is going to be part of our mix for a long time. In the
committee hearing that the member for Cape Breton West and the member
for Hants West and I were recently at, Emera even said - I think it was
35 per cent, when they looked out for the foreseeable future, is going
to represent coal.
We're
still going to have to address that issue.
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11nov16/
MADAM SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Inverness.
MR. ALLAN MACMASTER « » : Madam Speaker, I would think the government
would welcome this legislation. The cost of energy is the most
important issue facing our province today, whether your household
depends on it or whether your job depends on it… ……
So let's shine the light on the cost inputs that generate electricity
in this province. coal,
for instance, $50 per megawatt hour, that's the
cost to generate a megawatt hour of electricity through coal.
Wind, as
we know, sometimes replaces coal
on the grid, when wind is blowing.
This, of course, is because the province has legislation requiring that
we move towards renewables. Of course that was put in place by the
previous Progressive Conservative Government.
Now the thing with wind is that when it replaces coal
to generate
electricity on the grid, it does so at a cost of $150 per megawatt
hour. There is simple math, going from $50 per megawatt hour to $150
per megawatt hour. So if you, or if any Nova Scotian out there, went to
a gas station and had the option of purchasing a $50 tank of gas or a
$150 tank of gas, which one would Nova Scotians choose? I don't think
there would be much debate.
Those are pure facts, Madam Speaker, and I'm hoping that the government
members are accepting those facts because they are facts. If my numbers
are wrong then please table some numbers that dispute them.
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11nov16/
MADAM SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Cape Breton West.
MR. ALFIE MACLEOD « » : Thank you Madam Speaker…. … We're talking
tonight about power rates and the impact that they have on the people
of Nova Scotia.
Now, I've listened to the Minister of Energy and the member for Kings
North talking about this expensive coal
and they're saying that that's
the reason we have such a problem with our power rates. As a matter of
fact, the minister on August 13th, he put out a press release and it
said " . . . imported coal
is costing our consumers dearly". I would
like to table that, Madam Speaker.
There is a cost for coal,
no question, and my colleague, the member for
Inverness, went through the costs, but his very own department, the
Energy Minister's Department, told the Resources Committee regardless
of what took place, in
the best-case scenario, 10 years from now, 35
per cent of the needs of electricity in this province is still going to
be met by coal
- and that's in the best-case scenario.
Nova Scotia
Power, when they're putting out their platform, they'll tell you that
they're going to need coal
for the next 20 years, and we need to have
power … ..
Now I've said in this House and I've said many times, and I've had the
Premier even sneer at me when I said we should be burning Cape Breton
coal.
He said we don't have any mines - that's what he said when he was
sitting across there… …
Why is it that we don't want to burn Cape Breton coal?
It makes no
sense to me. There is some Nova Scotia coal
being used now, why
couldn't it all be Nova Scotia coal?
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11nov16/
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THURSDAY,
NOVEMBER 24, 2011
MADAM SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Cape Breton West.
MR. ALFIE MACLEOD « » : Madam Speaker, I'm certainly glad to be able to
take my time here tonight to add to the discussion about the motion
that's before the House, this hoist motion where we would put this bill
off for six months to allow time for consideration of what's going on.
...
All I hear sometimes from our Minister of Energy - who by the way I
respect, but he says, well you know, coal
is dirty, we shouldn't be
using coal
and do you know what there are chances, there are problems,
there's new technology coming out all the time, but we need to go to
green energy and our Party is in favour of going to green energy. His
own department will tell you that this province will be reliant on coal
for the next 10 to 20 years, regardless of how much green energy we put
in place. They will tell you that, his department tells you that, it's
not me, his department. Nova Scotia Power will tell you that….
…
I can tell you, Madam Speaker, some of those people who live in this
province who say, we need all green energy - and I have no problem with
green energy, I want to make that very clear, I have no problem with
green energy - but the minister's numbers say that you're going to be
relying on coal
for some time to come, so we should be using Nova
Scotia coal,
we should be putting Nova Scotians to work and we should
be doing it in a way that we're all proud and taking and helping to
solve a problem that is, indeed, major in this province. (Applause)
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11nov24/
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THURSDAY,
DECEMBER 1, 2011
MADAM SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Dartmouth East.
MR. ANDREW YOUNGER « » : Madam Speaker, I'm pleased to rise on the
amendments to the Environment Act, and let me start by saying that I'm
pleased that the minister chose not to include the administrative
penalty section in these amendments of the bill... ...
There has to be a mechanism for people to have that final say, to say,
listen, this is a provincial responsibility or it's not - or it's a
municipal responsibility, or a local one. That isn't addressed
anywhere, and I think that that's something that we need to come to
terms with, how we address that.
I would like to use an example from Cape Breton, where I know a number
of members get called - and actually Stellarton as
well - they're
getting a number of calls about coal
dust. I think probably all members
have been copied on some of the e-mails showing, you know, coal
dust
covering school yards after some of the explosions in some of the strip
mines. Well, of course, in a number of those cases the dust levels have
been within the allowable realm of the permit. So the question is does
that become something that the Department of Environment would look at,
or doesn't it, because sometimes it won't and sometimes it doesn't meet
the - or I would assume that sometimes it doesn't meet the regulations.
So that is something that sort of becomes a grey area that we need to
figure out how to deal with, because people have reasonable concerns
and they certainly deserve answers to that.
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11dec01/
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WEDNESDAY,
DECEMBER 7, 2011
MADAM SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Cape Breton West.
MR. ALFIE MACLEOD « » : Madam Speaker, I want to say what a pleasure it
is for me to get up and speak on Bill No. 70 that was introduced by my
colleague, the member for Hants West....
Now, Madam Speaker, it's very important that we talk about this issue.
The poor member back there got some bad research because he said, very
clearly, that we have been hostage to expensive, imported coal
for 25
years - shackled by it. The reality is that the coal
was produced here
in this province, and still is, but up until 2002, the Cape Breton
Development Corporation was the main supplier of coal
for the
generation of power in this province, not 25 years ago as he would have
us think to put a shackle to.
The other thing that's important to know is today (Interruption) - you
know what? I hope that the member will give us some time to actually
address all the issues that he gave misinformation on. I probably don't
have enough time for that because there's been a lot of misinformation.
The reality is, today there's still coal
being produced in Stellarton,
in Pictou County, and in Cape Breton County, that supplies Nova Scotia
Power.
I hear the Minister of Justice saying, shame. ... ... The reality is
that
the Department of Energy will tell you, with all their plans, with all
their green plans, in 10 years' time this province will still be 35 per
cent reliant on coal-fired
generation... ... ..
What really is interesting - the member on the
opposite side of the House provided us with a chart because he wasn't
sure if we understood the numbers he was quoting. He's right, I didn't
understand them because they weren't factual.
The chart says that coal
has gone up in price. He's right. That's the
one thing he did get right, it's gone up (Interruption) - by 76 per
cent you say? So, here's the interesting thing that he didn't tell you,
that wind energy, even at the increased cost of coal
energy, and what
it costs to supply a kilowatt of power, wind energy is still two thirds
the cost higher than coal
energy. That's the thing you never bothered
to bring forward, but that's okay because you didn't know.
MADAM SPEAKER « » : Order, please.
MR. MACLEOD « » : Madam Speaker, I am sorry for using that word. Being
an old shepherd, "yous" come easy to me.
When the member opposite says we are shackled by expensive imported
coal,
it's obvious that he doesn't understand how it worked. You know
what, I want to point out to him that Donkin is on
Cape Breton Island,
it's a place where you can get lots of coal.
I know that some people on
the mainland think that we're another country, in Cape Breton, but we
are not. We are part of Nova Scotia. As a matter of fact we are where
Nova Scotia started and I think you people here in Halifax sometimes
need to take that into account. But for him to say that we're shackled
by expensive coal
imported from other areas is not correct, it is not
correct; the coal
came from Cape Breton and Cape Breton is a big part
of this province. It is a shame that he doesn't understand that, it's a
real shame because normally he's a pretty good guy.
Let's just recap where we're at. We have a Department of Energy, run by
that government, which says that in 10 years we have to move to green
energy - not a problem - says in 10 years time that 35 per cent of the
needs of energy in this province will be produced by coal.
MADAM SPEAKER « » : Order, please. We have one minute remaining its
becoming difficult to hear the member. I'd ask that the members either
take their conversations outside the chamber or keep it down a little
bit longer, for just a few more minutes.
The honourable member for Cape Breton West has the floor.
MR. MACLEOD « » : That you very much for that wise ruling, Madam
Speaker.
AN HON. MEMBER: Its story time with Uncle Al.
MR. MACLEOD « » : I take exception to the member saying that it is
story time because it is only the Department of Energy that says 35 per
cent of the needs of this province, the whole province, Cape Breton
Island included. (Interruption) Well, again he's over there rambling on
about private funding. We still are going to need coal.
This man, and
you, and the government should understand that coal
is going to be part
of it. It should be Nova Scotian coal,
thank you very much.
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11dec07/
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WEDNESDAY,
DECEMBER 14,
2011
MADAM SPEAKER « » : The honourable member for Cape Breton South.
HON. MANNING MACDONALD « » : Madam Speaker, I'd like to offer a few
comments on Resolution No. 2778. I'll start by saying that this
discussion today is a reality check on what is really happening in Cape
Breton, and that's why the resolution is here: 15.7 per cent
unemployment in Cape Breton is simply not acceptable. It's half that
unemployment rate in Halifax. Cape Breton, the last time I looked, was
still a part of Nova Scotia, and should be treated equally as all other
areas of rural Nova Scotia should be treated.
There are a couple of issues in my area and the areas of the other
members from Cape Breton that are of grave concern to us and one is
that we'd like see an early resolution to the Donkin mine
situation;
we'd like to see that mine open as quickly as possible and I would hope
that the government would stop talking about the evils of coal
in Cape
Breton and start helping us to develop that particular industry, which
in effect would take the place of importing coal
for the generating
stations.
It's absolutely ridiculous, Madam Speaker, when the government can sit
back and rail on about fossil fuels on a number of occasions and yet
it's no problem for them to import coal
from the States, Venezuela, and
everywhere else, and we have coal
sitting in Cape Breton that could be
adapted to meet the necessary environmental concerns that anybody would
have.
http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proceedings/hansard/C81/house_11dec14/#HPage5429
The Global Coal Industry, Nova Scotia’s Energy Plan and
the Donkin Coal Project, Erdene Resource Development Corp.
November 2011
http://www.erdene.com/assets/pdf/DonkincoalProjectCapeBretonNS.pdf
MONDAY, JANUARY 2, 2012
In 2005, I attended the announcement in Donkin on the new mine at Schooner Pond. I expected a mine much sooner. However, I now realize that many factors go into the development of a mine, not the least of which is the state of the world economy, industrial approvals, and communication with stakeholders. However, the $30 million invested in the operation by Xstrata and Erdine Coal is a good incentive to continue. Xstrata itself has done an excellent job of communicating its intentions. When the mine comes into production in 2014, I predict it will provide very good paying jobs for a long time and much value-added for the community.
- LeRoy Peach lives in Port Morien. His column appears every two weeks in the Cape Breton Post. http://www.capebretonpost.com/Opinion/Columns/2012-01-02/article-2852926/Columnist-dusts-off-crystal-ball-for-2012-predictions/1
-----------------------------------------SATURDAY,
JANUARY 14, 2012
No Fracking Way! Provincial Day of Action (for those who still don't
get it)
Members
of Occupy N.S., and other local environmental organizations, are
holding a rally and march in Halifax, to educate and denounce the use
of Hydraulic Fracturing. And encourage folks in other cities and
rural communities that may be directly affected by fracking to hold
local rallies and demonstrations, stand in solidarity across the
province, to show the government, and corporations we DO NOT consent to
fracking our land. (But DO consent to strip mining and coal
gasification regardless of what the majority of people in the local communities have been saying
for years!)
Halifax
Grand Parade Square, Rally and March
January 14th 1:00 pm
Cape Breton
The Rotary, At the Causeway CBI
January 14th, 11 am - 1pm
http://www.facebook.com/events/257044674356945/?ref=nf
---------------------------------
MONDAY, APRIL 30, 2012
The provincial Moratorium on strip mining 13 more sites across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality for "surface coal" expires in April 2012.
http://gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20090430020
http://www.gov.ns.ca/natr/meb/data/pubs/03ofr07/03ofr07.pdf
Meanwhile, Donkin sits approved to mine undeground thermal coal for
over two years now but still idle because Lack of coal buyer stalls
mine:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2009/12/18/ns-donkin-coal-buyer.html
Why the big secret?
STOP STRIP MINING
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia
www.c-a-s-m.org
12.01.01
