The Canadian Press reports, “Municipal councillors in Inverness County have passed a bylaw that bans hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking. Deputy warden Dwayne MacDonald was the only councillor to vote against the bylaw at a meeting Monday in Port Hood.”
Warden Duart MacAulay, Councillor Alfred Poirier, Councillor Gloria LeBlanc, Councillor Jim Mustard, Councillor Betty Ann MacQuarrie
The article adds, “Service Nova Scotia Minister John MacDonell (has) said the bylaw would not supersede provincial authority over mineral rights. He said his department is responsible for administering the Municipal Government Act, and that gives the council no authority to make law in areas of provincial jurisdiction.”
But as the Cape Breton Post reports, “Inverness County Warden Duart MacAulay said he doesn’t dispute the province’s jurisdiction over mineral rights. The bylaw is about the municipality’s right to protect the health of its residents and the surrounding environment, he said. MacAulay said the bylaw has received widespread support from the community.”
That article adds, “The public gallery, which was packed with more than 35 residents, applauded the decision at county council’s monthly meeting in Port Hood.”
“Toronto-based energy company Petroworth Resources has plans to drill a 1,200-metre vertical exploratory well in an area on the western side of Lake Ainslie in Inverness County. The permit, approved by the province, expires July 15. Company officials have said it will not include fracking, which would require a separate permit.” It has previously been reported that, “Petroworth’s proposed oil well would sit about 600 metres from Cape Breton’s largest freshwater lake, and only about 30 metres from a brook that is part of the Margaree River watershed.”
The Council of Canadians wishes to thank Inverness County council for their vision and defence of the public interest by passing this precedent setting bylaw.
For more, please read:
NEWS: Public hearings on Inverness County bylaw against fracking underway
UPDATE: Sunday causeway protests for Lake Ainslie
NEWS: Inverness chapter confronts NS environment minister on oil drilling by Lake Ainslie
UPDATE: Inverness chapter condemns approval of oil/gas drilling by Lake Ainslie
