East River Branch

Publisher:  South Shore Environmental Protection Association, Canada
Year Published:  1977
Resource Type:  Organization
Cx Number:  CX432

The East River group branched out of the South Shore Environmental Protection Association (SSEPA), a group originally formed to protect the rights of fishermen threatened by the construction of a local nuclear power plant. This sub-group has spread throughout Lunenberg county, Nova Scotia, and its chief concern is noise, air, ocean and river pollution. Its most notable struggle was against the Anil Hardboard Plant (now Maysonite Canada) which was polluting the East River.

Abstract: 
The East River group branched out of the South Shore Environmental Protection Association (SSEPA), a group originally formed to protect the rights of fishermen threatened by the construction of a local nuclear power plant. This sub-group has spread throughout Lunenberg county, Nova Scotia, and its chief concern is noise, air, ocean and river pollution. Its most notable struggle was against the Anil Hardboard Plant (now Maysonite Canada) which was polluting the East River. This sturggle lead to the first hearing, on evnironmental pollution in Nova Scotia (1974). Anil Hardboard Plant was forced to develop a pollution treatment system but the East River group is still not satisfied, and is demanding that the citizens have the right to monitor the sytem. The group experienced a clear lack of cooperation from the Department of Fisheries and the Department of Environment in this struggle.

Another interest of the group is the conservation of forest land. Besides monitoring Bowaters Mersey Paper Company, which controls most of the forest land in the area, the group is concerned with lobbying for an effective Green Belt Law in the area. This group is anxious to hear about other such efforts in the Maritimes and throughout Canada.

This organization no longer exists.
This abstract was published in the Connexions Digest in 1977.