Detailed History of our Campaign to Protect Sand Dollar Beach & the Rose Bay Salt Marsh
Because of limited access in years gone by, many people have driven past Sand Dollar Beach without ever visiting it. This very special beach is located by the sharp curve on rte. 332 just north of Rose Bay, between the Kingsburg Road and the Salty Rose Cottages. The area is known for its sand dollars, and for the warm & shallow waters that make it an ideal place for children to swim. Thanks to a land donation from the Shewchuk family, plus an infusion of cash and effort from the municipality, Sand Dollar Beach now has a small parking area, trash cans, a picnic table, and a sloped ramp down to the water. (And KCC checks on it regularly to make sure trash has been picked up, and that all is well.) But this may not be enough to preserve our beloved beach and the neighbouring wetlands. One waterfront lot is for sale, an old road down to the water has been “improved,” and the owner of another waterfront lot has begun the process of infilling in anticipation of constructing a house.
When the infilling first began in the winter of 2006/2007, local resident Patrick Palangio contacted everyone who might help prevent further infilling. His list included the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the NS Department of Environment & Labour (DEL), David Walmark, representing the South Shore Naturalists (SSN), and Dee Hilburt, representing KCC. The group walked the site, took pictures, and talked about what should be done. All agreed that, due to migratory bird habitats, tidal water wetland, and salt marsh presence, it was a questionable place to build a house.
For reasons that vary, depending on whom you talk to, no further material was dumped during the winter months. KCC followed up in late January by talking to MLA Michael Baker, who readily agreed that Sand Dollar Beach is a very special place for many Lunenburg County families. KCC specifically asked Michael Baker to initiate the required steps to designate Sand Dollar Beach a “protected beach.“ We have not yet received an update from Mr. Baker on the possibility of protected status.
Throughout the winter and spring, there was a great deal of confusion about the laws that might apply to the situation, and about what the various levels and branches of government are allowed to do in circumstances such as these. There has also been confusion about what conclusions the Department of Environment and Labour or Department of Natural Resources may or may not have reached. In mid-July, KCC asked Michael Baker’s office to provide written documentation of the conclusions. On September 26, KCC received a reply stating that
It has been determined that the lot is above the mean high water mark except for a 30 square foot area. It has been concluded by both departments that the proposed infill is within all regulations.
On July 1, KCC received an informal report that the owner of the land that was being filled in had plans to continue infilling the area. We, and many other members of the community, were quite upset that an area that gets covered by storm tides, and that we believe to be a wetland, could be developed. We re-contacted various levels and offices of the government, and also the press. The owner of the property also contacted the government to determine what he was allowed to do. No government office told the owner he couldn’t develop the land.
KCC then contacted Dr. Chris Miller to get his impressions of the area. Chris Miller is the Wilderness Conservation Coordinator for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society NS chapter. Chris holds a Ph.D. in biology from the Wetland Research Centre, University of Waterloo, and a combined honours B.Sc. degree in biology and earth sciences from Dalhousie University. He also holds a part-time faculty position in the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University.
After examining the area and the lot being infilled, Dr. Miller concluded, “Pretty much all of the land between the base of the infill (editor’s note: this reference to “infill” means the original infill from the winter of 2006/2007) from the edge of the highway to the intertidal zone along the beach would be considered to be ‘wetland’.” He explained that the area includes a wetland system that extends over several lots, with the infill lot being a key component to the healthy functioning of the whole system. KCC provided Dr. Miller’s observations to MLA Michael Baker and to the DNR and DEL. At that time, David Clark of the DEL Bridgewater Office, indicated they still intended to return to the lot for a further analysis, but there was no date set, and no definitive timeframe.
Subsequent to Dr. Miller’s review, we received a second analysis of the wetland. The second analysis was completed by local resident, Dr. Eric Mills. Eric Mills is Professor Emeritus in the Dalhousie Department of Oceanography. Dr. Mills completed his PhD in Biology at Yale in 1964 after receiving his BSc at Carleton and his MS at Yale. He has 40 years as a marine ecologist and biological oceanographer, and is familiar with the plants, and especially the animals, of coastal salt marsh habitats in Nova Scotia and along the northeast coast of North America. Dr. Mills’ first letter to us provides conclusions similar to those of Dr. Miller. Dr. Mills’ second letter explains some of the ways in which NS’s wetland laws are inferior to those of several other jurisdictions, and describes why DEL should be looking at whole wetland systems, rather than at isolated parts that form owned lots. As an example, even though NS law requires a person who damages a wetland to provide money for restoration of a different site, the size of the restoration payment is based only on the exact area covered by the new road or building. This method fails to consider that one road that has a small square footage can damage a huge area by cutting off necessary water flow.
About a week after KCC provided Michael Baker and DEL with a copy of Dr. Miller’s observations, dump trucks arrived in the Sand Dollar area and set about “improving” a grown-over dirt road leading from rte 332 down toward the water. Clearly, no one from DEL had told the owner that he should postpone work until a second assessment could be completed, and even after DEL was notified, the work continued. A couple of days after Labour Day, more trucks began arriving and dumping fill. At the time of writing, several dozen loads of fill have been deposited, and are now being bull-dozed over the wetland.
On September 7, with the financial support of 86 donors, KCC offered to purchase the property from the owner, and asked him to postpone infilling until he had reached a decision. The response was “Until we do make our decision, we are hesitant to delay site development further.” KCC knew how difficult and expensive it would be to reverse the infilling, so, on September 10, KCC Board members spoke to Chronicle Herald reporter Beverly Ware, who wrote an objective article that presented the position of the landowner and the perspective of environmental groups. Additionally, KCC Board member Marion Homer used 2 sections under the Environment Act to request an investigation and a Ministerial Order to cease the action of infilling. Shortly thereafter, the owner told us “We appreciate your organization's offer to purchase our property. However, after careful consideration, we respectfully decline.”
KCC has continued canvassing for supporters and contributions to buy and preserve the Sand Dollar Wetland. As of the end of September, local support stands at 100 names, and we are now beginning to contact our more distant members.
When Marion spoke to the Minister’s office about the application for the investigation, DEL pointed out that there is no provision in NS environmental law for considering opinions from outside experts. The only opinions that have official value are those of DEL’s own employees. However, DEL did send an inspector out to the site again on September 11. He told us that his purpose in being there was to answer our questions, and that if we wanted to request an investigation, we would have to submit our request on an official form, which he provided. He explained that he was judging the area based on soil type, which he found to be “just sand.” He explained that his training taught him that sand is completely porous, allowing water to pass right through it, meaning it would not support a wetland, and the area in question could not be a wetland. But other observers who had reported to us had found the substance underfoot to be a mixture of sand and humus, or a layer of humusy matter under the sand. This humus layer has been provided by erosion from Conrad Island. In addition, many wetland experts teach that sand can support a wetland. When the DEL inspector left, he said he would contact the 2 scientists who deemed the area a wetland. He wanted to talk to them so all parties could be in agreement on the fundamental scientific standards that would be used. This seemed like a great idea, so, after a period of time elapsed, and no contact was made , one of the scientists we had consulted contacted the DEL inspector. This scientist offered his services to help with the next evaluation.
While the inspector was on site, KCC Board members and Patrick Palangio asked the inspector several questions:
- Does the government have a set of standards used to determine if an area is a wetland? Perhaps a list of typical wetland plants, and photos of each? or soil evaluation procedures? The answer was “no.” Everything is at the discretion of the inspector, and there is no provision for including outside experts.
- Who should we talk to about the “extra” content of the fill being used? Does anyone care if it contains pieces of cement block or electrical wiring? The answer was that it is not a DEL responsibility.
- We asked what methods DEL uses to document the location of any wetland it finds. We felt that such documentation would make it easier for landowners, dump truck drivers, bulldozer operators, government, and other interested parties to know which areas have to be avoided. We asked if there are surveys that mark the areas and provide GPS coordinates. “No.” We asked if there were stakes in the ground to demarcate the area. “No.” We asked how the area was marked. The answer was that DEL talked to the landowner and the trucking company owner and pointed out a patch of grass of a certain type, and told them to avoid it. Nothing was put in writing.
Nova Scotia’s wetland “protection” system is horribly flawed. We need a better law and a better system for applying the law. And we need people to write to the government to let them know the system has to be upgraded. Please help.
So what can you do? The KCC has several suggestions, and you can use Dr. Mills second letter to the DEL Minister as a source for the faults in NS’s system of assessing wetlands. The bulldozers have been hard at work, and time is quickly running out if the wetland is to be preserved!